What's the closest equivalent of Little Snitch (Mac program) on Windows?

Question

I'm using Windows 7 and would like to have a feature like Little Snitch on the Mac that alerts you whenever a program on your computer makes an outgoing connection.

Description of Little Snitch from its website:

A firewall protects your computer against unwanted guests from the Internet. But who protects your private data from being sent out? Little Snitch does!

As soon as you’re connected to the Internet, applications can potentially send whatever information they want to wherever they want.

Sometimes they do this for good reason, on your explicit request. But often they don’t. Little Snitch allows you to intercept these unwanted connection attempts, and lets you decide how to proceed.

Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an outgoing Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge. Little Snitch runs inconspicuously in the background and it can also detect network related activity of viruses, trojans and other malware.

Little Snitch provides flexible configuration options, allowing you to grant specific permissions to your trusted applications or to prevent others from establishing particular Internet connections at all.

So you will only be warned in those cases that really need your attention.

Is there a program like Little Snitch for Windows?

Solution 1

I always preferred NetLimiter over any other solution I've tried.

NetLimiter used to be only about bandwidth control and it still shines at that. But a personal firewall feature was added later on.

What primarily distinguishes it from the Windows firewall is that it will not allow any connection attempt to succeed before you decided how you want to handle it. For example:

I have all the options I need right there in that dialog.

• All connection details.
• Clicking Connection Info provides access to necessary tools to make the decision if the connection is allowed:
• You can create a permanent rule to allow or deny the process to connect.
• You can allow the process to connect for as long as it lives. If it is restarted, you'll be asked again.
• And finally I can allow or deny the connection.

The only way NetLimiter could be better suited for me was if it was free. But, sadly, it isn't. Luckily though, it seems to cost exactly the same as Litte Snitch.

Solution 2

Would Comodo or other firewalls that do egress monitoring / filtering do the trick?

Solution 3

I use Windows Firewall Control.

And its Free

Solution 4

Sorry, but Zone Alarm is nothing like Little Snitch – it fails to show full activity of a program's connection. It just says "Connecting to 127.0.0.1" or "Program attempting to connect to the internet". Zone Alarm Paid version has more information like Little Snitch.

You could always use netstat and Windows' built-in firewall. Just tell Windows Firewall to not allow any connections – but still Little Snitch has a much easier to use interface and shows all incoming and outgoing connections even when they are allowed. A very useful function indeed.

In Windows there is a nice function similar to Little Snitch. Open up Windows Task Manager (one of the most important programs in Windows), then click on the Resource Monitor button. Click on the Network tab. This will show you all ports in use, TCP connections, active connections and how much traffic they are using.

Likewise you can use netstat to see some of the same information in the CMD. Don't forget that firewalls and anti virus applications can cause problems and slow down your PC, so if you're playing video games or crunching numbers, turn them off.

Solution 5

OK answers, but as a long time little snitch user, I think I have better possibilities for you :

1 - Zone Alarm : that i've been using for years and is very similar to little snitch (two way communication control). 2 - Outpost security suite: I hear good things of this product and a free version is available.

Have fun,

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Comments

[Merlyn Morgan-Graham]

If you're doing development/reverse engineering work as opposed to simply trying to monitor your PC, I might suggest something like Fiddler or Wireshark. Those programs are designed around actually viewing, recording, debugging, modifying, injecting into, and replaying network streams, rather than just getting high level (executable/port level) control of program access. They're not a lot like Little Snitch IIRC, but they're much more helpful for dev work.

[jm666]

Please, could you share your own updated (2015 soon) solution/experience? I'm looking for LittleSnitch equivalent for windows 8.1, and found nothing usable and easy to use as LittleSnitch... (yet).

[galacticninja]

@jm666 Have you tried Windows 8 Firewall Control, as suggested in an answer by Moab? If yes, what about it doesn't work for you?

[jm666]

@galacticninja - honestly, not yet. ;) Simply because I added a small bounty - probably in 3 years after the OP question's date are here some news. - Maybe will award Moab's current answer, will see. :)

[slhck]

@jm666 Sorry, but the question in its current form is no longer acceptable here, as it just draws opinionated answers (like you correctly observed) that do not really solve a specific problem. There are two ways to approach this: 1) Post a new question here on Super User, focusing on what you want to do (i.e. block outgoing connections per app), what you've tried and what doesn't work (e.g. "I tried programs X, Y, and Z, but they don't achieve that"). Or 2) re-ask this question as-is on Software Recommendations

[jm666]

@slhck - yeah, you're right. going to ask in SWR.

[Sandeep Bansal]

+1 for Comodo Firewall I use it and it is probably the best firewall out there

[galacticninja]

Is Comodo as simple and easy to use as Little Snitch (no other bloated features)? I don't really need another firewall, just Little Snitch's feature that prompts the user if a program wants to connect to the Internet, provide info about the connection attempt, and allows the user to deny the connection attempt.

[galacticninja]

Any comments on whether Zone Alarm and Outpost Security Suite is as simple and easy to use as Little Snitch (no other bloated features)? I don't really need another firewall as Windows 7's default firewall works fine, just Little Snitch's feature that prompts the user if a program wants to connect to the Internet, provide info about the connection attempt, and allows the user to deny the connection attempt.

[Ramhound]

The Firewall built into Windows does that.

[galacticninja]

@Ramhound I don't think the default Windows firewall does outbound connection filtering and notification, like what Little Snitch does. On Windows Vista and 7's built-in firewall: "Notifications are not shown however for outbound connections." - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Firewall#Windows_Vista

[Moab]

I never get a pop up. version 4.0.144.38, you must have downloaded the pro trial version not the free version.

[galacticninja]

Turns out you are right. I have indeed downloaded the shareware version, not the freeware version. The freeware version seems to be alright and is a good 'Little Snitch' equivalent. Simple and easy to use. An upvote has been given.

[Nathilion]

That's pretty sweet. It does look to be a good equivalent of LittleSnitch.

[Admin]

Watchout it appears that ZoneAlarm Free does not block outgoing connections.

[Gravity]

CAREFUL WITH COMODO - I had all kind of problems with it. Also they collect data about you: dottech.org/10032/…

[Gravity]

jettico personal is 40 euros !!!!!!

[DaveTheMinion]

Does NetLimiter allow you to configure programs to ask for permission to connect to the internet in the same way that Little Snitch does?

[DaveTheMinion]

@Silvester Why would malware distributors by an SSL certificate from Comodo when Let's Encrypt would be able to serve their purpose?

[DaveTheMinion]

@Silvester Yes, I know. I used Comodo Backup for a while. It was a great piece of software, but I had so many issues with it that I ended up needing to reimage my computer even after an uninstall. It's such a shame. I just do not understand why malware distributors would buy SSL certificates when it is so easy to get them for free.

[apraetor]

Can you set NetLimiter rules such that a process can only connect to specific hosts? That's the biggest feature of LS -- you can approve Mail to only connect to mail.google.com, etc.

[Venryx]

@DaveTheMinion It appears you can, yes: i.imgur.com/CudiLev.png

[Venryx]

@apraetor I haven't done so myself, but this panel suggests that you can (add a low-priority block-all rule, and a high-priority let-this-one-domain-through rule): i.imgur.com/LASWQ0c.png