Ubuntu 10.04 Security Program

Conor108

Hey guys,

I've installed Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx the other day and its going great. I was wondering what internet security program I should be running? AVG have a linux version of their virus scanner would that be recommended?

The laptop dual boots XP and thats running Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 but there is no linux version of this.

Any recommendations for free anti-virus or firewall programs?

Thanks guys:)

Naikon

You don't need "Antivirus" software for GNU/Linux. The community does not suffer from the paranoia about evil viruses trying to subvert your machine. This is mainly a windows thing.
Reason being, most applications/attachments don't have execute permissions even with associated MIME handling routines. If you have some common sense, and don't do anything
stupid, you have no need for that junk. You might need it for preventing windows virii being passed on to other windows machines in a domain, but otherwise save your time/cash.

AV software is a scam at best tbh. How can you verify it's actually working? tl;dr - AV is a waste of time on Linux. A decent firewall script/rootkit detector is good though. Remember
security is a process, not some shrinkwrapped product you get out of PC World. No system is 100% secure, so you need to keep thinking on your feet. Source - Non AV using Linux
user for 6 years.

click me

Eliot Rosewater

As someone who is thoroughly converted to the GNU/Linux way of computing/thinking, I'm always amazed when computer users are asked to pay money to secure their operating system. Especially with Windows. You pay out between €70 to €200 for a Microsoft operating system; the very least you should expect is that it will be safe and sustainable in the long run. This is a most basic demand of an operating system.

So welcome to a world of freedom Conor108. :pac:


Basically common sense applies. The basic thing is this: to edit any system file (in general, all of the files outside /home/ directory) a program must have superuser permissions. When the popup comes up asking for your password, it's looking for superuser permissions to edit some system file. 99% of the time, this is fine. However, if you download some file from www.freefun.xxx and it asks for superuser permissions when you click on it, you should probably deny it. Only give superuser permissions to a program you trust.

Conor108

I had a feeling it'd be like this:) Thanks guys

Naikon

Conor108 wrote: »

I had a feeling it'd be like this:) Thanks guys

No problem. Enjoy Linux without AV:pac:

Conor108

Naikon wrote: »

AV is a waste of time on Linux. A decent firewall script/rootkit detector is good though.

Sorry again but is there a decent firewall program you'd reccomend? I've read Lokkit and Firestarter but I can't seem to install them.

Mathiasb

Conor108 wrote: »

Sorry again but is there a decent firewall program you'd reccomend? I've read Lokkit and Firestarter but I can't seem to install them.

iptables. Firestarter is a GUI for it. Ubuntu ships with Ufw - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UFW .