I am using Norton 4.0 on my Mac which is part of a network of three Macs and one Ubuntu server. I had Application blocking "ON" and was having problems with programs such as update apps being blocked by Norton. It would as for permission and I would click the checkbox to allow all the time. The allow all the time doesn't seem to work as it keeps asking for permission. Should I be using Application Blocking on my network machines or not? And if I am what do I do to fix this problem, as some of these apps such as upgrades are not able to be added to the Application Blocking safe list as they are hidden from view?
At first I was a little confused about your question until I read that you were upgrading your apps. When an application receives an upgrade it necessarily changes the application. Application Blocking must then assume it is a different application and must ask permission again. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this is part of the protection scheme, if the application changes, the firewall assumes that the user has not given permission for that application.
Application Blocking allows the user to limit which applications on their computer can use the internet. It safeguards the user from a rogue application ( such as a trojan ) accessing the internet. By default it is off. If you want this type of protection, you should use it. If not, Connection Blocking provides standard firewall protection.
I assume by saying the applications are "hidden from view" you mean you can not get to their path location when you manually try to add them by going to Firewall Settings: Application Blocking -Configure...:Add Application...: Other...
Remember usually when the system presents an open dialog you can press the keys <shift><command>G to bring up the "Go to the folder:" sheet. You can enter any absolute path in the text box ( such as /usr/bin ) and the Open dialog box will display the applications in the folder at that absolute path. I hope this helps
I am very confused now as when I contacted support by phone I was told not to use Application Blocking! That is why I asked the question in the first place.
I don't think there are hard and fast rules about when Application Blocking should be used. As John mentioned, it is not on by default, but it provides some extra protection beyond what the connection blocking features of the firewall provide.
As with any protection feature like this, you may have to reply to alerts when something changes on the system which is potentially the result of malicious activity, but in many cases is merely normal behavior. This is where individual users have to decide if the extra protection is worth the "nuisance factor" of having to approve some operations. Everyone has a different level of tolerance, so it's difficult to design a "one size fits all" solution.
OK, I will see if I can go along with the constant requests for access. I guess after a while it will stop asking as I have always checked allow.