Post Description

Whether you use your Mac for work or just for surfing the Internet, whether you are online all day long, or just occasionally, whether you are on a local network in a home office, or part of a large corporation or educational institution, your computer contains sensitive information. This may be anything from your credit card numbers to your bank account information, contracts with customers or employees, confidential projects or e-mail messages and passwords. No matter what you have on your Mac that is for your eyes only, there is somebody out there who would certainly find it interesting.

Intego NetBarrier X5 is the Internet security solution for Macintosh computers running Mac OS X. It offers thorough protection against intrusions coming across the Internet or a local network.

NetBarrier X5 protects your computer from intrusions by constantly filtering all the activity that enters and leaves through the Internet or a network. NetBarrier X5 protects you from thieves, hackers and intruders, and warns you automatically if any suspicious activity occurs.

NetBarrier X5 has four lines of defense to protect your Mac and your data from intrusions and attacks.
Personal Firewall

NetBarrier X5 contains a personal firewall that filters data as it enters and leaves your computer. A full set of basic filtering rules is used by default, and its Customized protection mode allows you to create your own rules, if you need to.

A firewall is, as its name suggests, like a wall. It protects your computer or network by separating users into two groups?those inside the wall, and those outside. It is configured to determine what access outsiders have to computers inside the wall, and what access insiders have to computers and networks on the other side of the wall.

A firewall is a kind of filter that acts between your computer, or network, and a wide area network such as the Internet. It functions by filtering packets of data, and examining where they come from and where they are going.

NetBarrier X5 offers powerful firewall protection for your Mac, and its customized protection allows advanced users to configure specific rules to protect against foes who wish to infiltrate your computer.
Antivandal

NetBarrier X5?s Antivandal is a powerful guardian for your computer. It watches over your Mac?s network activity, looking for signs of intrusion. If it detects any suspicious activity, NetBarrier X5 stops the intruder in their tracks and displays an alert. The Antivandal has another powerful function, the Stop List, that records the addresses of intruders who attempt to get into your Mac, ensuring that they will always be blocked. Several options allow you to choose the type of protection you have on your computer.

* Policy
NetBarrier X5 can stop incoming data that is considered hostile. It can display an alert dialogue, showing why the data was stopped, and asking you to allow or deny it. You can also select other alert options, such as having NetBarrier X5 play a sound, put the host automatically in the Stop List, or send an e-mail message to the address(es) of your choice.

* Stop List
When an intruder is detected trying to break into your Mac, NetBarrier X5 allows you to put them on the Stop List, which records their network address. If a computer with the same address tries to enter your computer again it will be automatically blocked.

* Trusted Group
In some cases, computers you know?friends, not foes?will be blocked by NetBarrier X5. These may be computers on your local network, blocked because they are sending pings to your computer, for example. NetBarrier X5 allows you to put them in the Trusted Group, where they will be considered friends for as long as you want, ensuring that they can always access your Mac. It is important to note that the Trusted Group only applies to NetBarrier X5?s Antivandal functions and data filter, and Firewall rules are still applied to computers in the Trusted Group.

* Anti-Spyware
NetBarrier X5 lets you control Internet and network access by individual applications. Whenever an untrusted application tries to connect to a network, NetBarrier X5 can display an alert, informing you which application is making the connection. If you want to allow that application to access the network?if it truly is an application you know should be using the network?then you can do so. But if an application tries to connect in secret, you can block it permanently.

Privacy Protection
NetBarrier X5 helps protect your privacy. It filters data to ensure that no sensitive information leaves your computer, blocks ad banners, and lets you surf anonymously. And it has a unique feature that hides information about your computer: its platform, which browser you are using, and the last web page you visited.
Monitoring

NetBarrier X5 contains powerful tools for monitoring your network activity and usage. Its activity gauges show your network traffic in real time, and its additional monitoring functions give you essential information on your computer, its network and the services and connections that are active.

NetBarrier X5 even offers a separate program, NetBarrier Monitor, that you can keep open all the time, as well as a monitoring screen saver, so you can always keep an eye on your network traffic.