I just installed Norton Internet Security for Mac, obtained from my ISP Comcast. During setup, it detected an unknown service running on port 4488. Being a seasoned computer security officer, my first inclination was to deny access on this port. However, I decided to do a little research on this before disabling it, and am now very glad I did. Tucked away deep within the Apple discussion forums, I found the following thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12999462
In there, I learned that port 4488 is used by an Apple daemon awacsd (Apple Wide Area Connection Service), which is essential for Back To My Mac (BTMM) AND MobileMe synchronization of Calendar, Contacts, etc. Closing port 4488 will definitely affect these services. So, i want ahead and enabled port 4488, and later allowed access for awacsd.
Given how difficult it was for me, a security professional, to find this valuable bit of info, I would like to propose that the Norton installer be updated to include a short description of what port 4488 and awacsd are, so everyday users can be better informed on the need for this service on this port. It will go a long way toward avoiding problems with MobileMe and BTMM, both of which are very popular services among Mac users.
I would guess that many frustrated users have totally uninstalled the Norton suite because it interfered with these services and could not easily find out why. This little change will go along way to help improve the user experience of the Norton suite on Macs.
I blocked it. How do I unblock it?
I just installed Norton Internet Security for Mac, obtained from my ISP Comcast. During setup, it detected an unknown service running on port 4488. Being a seasoned computer security officer, my first inclination was to deny access on this port. However, I decided to do a little research on this before disabling it, and am now very glad I did. Tucked away deep within the Apple discussion forums, I found the following thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12999462
In there, I learned that port 4488 is used by an Apple daemon awacsd (Apple Wide Area Connection Service), which is essential for Back To My Mac (BTMM) AND MobileMe synchronization of Calendar, Contacts, etc. Closing port 4488 will definitely affect these services. So, i want ahead and enabled port 4488, and later allowed access for awacsd.
Given how difficult it was for me, a security professional, to find this valuable bit of info, I would like to propose that the Norton installer be updated to include a short description of what port 4488 and awacsd are, so everyday users can be better informed on the need for this service on this port. It will go a long way toward avoiding problems with MobileMe and BTMM, both of which are very popular services among Mac users.
I would guess that many frustrated users have totally uninstalled the Norton suite because it interfered with these services and could not easily find out why. This little change will go along way to help improve the user experience of the Norton suite on Macs.
- Open up Norton Firewall
- Click on Firewall Settings
- Under Connection Blocking, click the Configure... button
- With Applications showing in the View pull-down menu, you should see awacsd. Click the Edit... button
- If you do not see it, you will need to manually add it; you will have to browse to /usr/sbin/awacsd
- After adding it, select Services/Ports from the View pull-down menu
- Click the Add Service... button
- With the Ports tab selected, click the Add... button
These steps are not exact, since these items are already listed for me. But they should be close enough to help get you going. You should end up with something like the following:
I do hope this helps, for I feel your pain.
