IPNetSentryX for Mac

IPNetSentryX is an advanced firewall, intrusion detector that includes detailed logging, AirPort configuration, Ethernet bridging, bandwidth allocation, and bandwidth accounting. Unlike most other Internet security products, IPNetSentryX offers basic protection without erecting barriers for the safe use of your Internet connection. There is no need to "punch holes" in a firewall for specific applications you may wish to run. Instead, IPNetSentryX silently and intelligently watches for suspicious behavior, and when triggered, invokes a solid filter which completely bans the potential intruder from your Macintosh.

The advantage is you don't need a network expert to configure your firewall or debug compatibility conflicts. Beyond this basic protection, IPNetSentryX offers unprecedented flexibility for specifying what traffic to allow on your network and responding to network events. IPNetSentryX supplements and is fully compatible with Apple's own firewall in OSX while providing additional capability to solve network problems users may encounter.Compared to UNIX ipfw, the standard firewall included with Mac OS X, IPNetSentryX offers several advantages:

Uses hierarchical filtering entirely within the network kernel

If you have a reason to care about network throughput such as doing remote backups, this can be significant.

Excellent compatibility

As a shared resource, UNIX ipfw is often configured by multiple programs with conflicting models. IPNetSentryX does not use or depend on ipfw leaving it available for Internet Sharing or other UNIX software. IPNetSentryX’s trigger on suspicious activity model is less likely to interfere with legitimate network use (such as games, conferencing, or streaming media).

Flexible configuration, logging, and notification options

Mac OS X's built-in firewall does not filter UDP, does not provide detailed logs, does not filter packet content, does not provide rate limiting, is difficult to debug, and cannot provide Email or AppleScript notification of possible network attacks.