How to Enable and Configure the Firewall on the Mac Running macOS Big Sur [Tutorial]
32How to Enable and Configure the Firewall on the Mac Running macOS Big Sur.
macOS Big Sur includes an application firewall you can use to control connections made to your computer from other computers on your network.
A firewall can protect your Mac from unwanted contact initiated by other computers when you’re connected to the internet or a network. However, your Mac can still allow access through the firewall for some services and apps. For example:
If you turn on a sharing service such as file sharing, macOS opens a specific port for the service to communicate through.
An app or service on another system can request and be given access through the firewall, or it might have a trusted certificate and therefore be allowed access.
For greater control, you can select apps and services, and specify whether they can have access through the firewall.
OS X v10.5.1 and later include an application firewall you can use to control connections on a per-application basis (rather than a per-port basis). This makes it easier to gain the benefits of firewall protection, and helps prevent undesirable apps from taking control of network ports open for legitimate apps.
Use the Firewall pane of Security & Privacy preferences to turn on the firewall in macOS to prevent unwanted connections from the internet or other networks. Learn how to block connections to your Mac with a firewall.
This tutorial will apply for MacBook Pro, Air, Mini's running the macOS operating system. This tutorial was performed on a macOS Big Sur system.