Little Snitch 6: Outbound firewall gets blocklists and DNS encryption
The popular macOS security software from Austria receives a major update. A TCP leak problem remains in Little Snitch 6 – also because of Apple.
Little Snitch 6 with revised network monitor including block lists.
(Image: Objective Development)
Objective Development has presented Little Snitch 6. According to the Vienna-based manufacturer, the update comes with a modernized interface and a "multitude of new and useful improvements". These include the adoption of the block list function from Little Snitch Mini, a better overview when grouping existing or past connections, and a basic way to encrypt DNS queries on the Mac.
No longer everything by hand
Little Snitch basically remains an outbound firewall or – put more simply – a network watchdog. The app checks when a process on the Mac attempts to establish a connection; the user can then prevent data transfer. This makes it possible to check which programs are "phoning home" – and there are surprisingly many of them. Previously, this had to be done manually and connections - which went beyond the system functions enabled by default – had to be confirmed or denied individually.
With Little Snitch 6, you can now also subscribe to well-known blocking lists, such as those from Peter Lowe or URLhaus. It should be noted that the servers contained in these lists are blocked and not individual URLs in the browser, as is the case with ad blocker plug-ins.
A new control center in the menu bar allows faster switching between the different operating modes of Little Snitch, and also offers a better visualization of the data traffic. The new main app has an interactive data traffic diagram with search function, can group connections hierarchically by app, domain or country and offers new filters. Network connections can now also be "announced" acoustically. New rule groups have also been added and web apps from Safari can be controlled more precisely.
Encrypted DNS – and the TCP problem
If you are interested in encrypted DNS connections, you can activate them directly in Little Sntich, which is somewhat easier than via the macOS system settings. Quad9, Cloudflare, Google and dns0.eu are currently supported - with the protocols DNS over TLS/HTTPS and, in some cases, DNS over QUIC. Exceptions can also be defined.
When using Little Snitch, it should be noted that the transmission of TCP packets during the handshake cannot be prevented. These – just like DNS queries – could therefore be recorded by the server on the other side, including the IP, without large amounts of data being transmitted. The reason for this is how Apple itself manages the connection setup - however, Little Snitch itself also looks into the packets to determine server names.
Little Snitch 6 costs 59 euros as a single license, with a 20 euro discount on updates. If the app was purchased after January 1, 2024, the update is free of charge. Family licenses are available for 115 euros, multiple licenses with 5 or more are available from 239 euros.
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