And don’t forget that any time you’re on a network-a coffee shop’s Wi-Fi system, for example-you’re exposed to anyone else on that network.
But there are computers out there that do nothing all day but probe Net-connected machines for vulnerabilities it’s certainly possible that one will find yours. With millions of computers in the world, it might seem that the odds of your Mac being targeted are awfully small. There aren’t any such network vulnerabilities on Macs (that we know of) now, but many of Apple’s security updates specifically address network vulnerabilities. Years ago, a bug (long-since fixed) let attackers send Macs a so-called “ ping of death”-specially designed network traffic that could crash a system. Mac OS X comes with not one but two firewalls of its own. They can keep criminals out while allowing legitimate network traffic in. Firewalls monitor and regulate the data moving on and off your computer or network.
