Questions about Defragging or Antivirus? Look here first!

[Kaye]

I believe any version 2003 or later.. Keep in mind this is using a plugin, but nonetheless it works.

[a52735]

Antivirus what is?










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[rich_roast]

Antivirus what is?

Seriously?

Application that scans files for known virus patterns and reports their presence on a file system, can "quarantine" infected files to a chroot jail or similar, and may be able to remove them completely from an infected system, depending on the individual program.

A repair tool rather than a preventative. Necessity played down by lack of malicious software targeting GNU/Linux OS at this time, but regarded as a courtesy towards Windows users if sharing files (just because a GNU/Linux system might not be infected doesn't mean it can't carry), and just because one's paranoid doesn't mean they're not onto one.

Clam-av, available from the repos, is probably a logical choice for GNU/Linux systems, being open source.

[Shadow_69_91]

I don't want to be a stick in the mud but I know for a fact that there are users out there who are coding RAT's that are specifically targeting Linux OS'. So I still think it is a good idea to have an AV unless you can get a really good firewall.

[eosdan]

Just want to say thanks for the information, this post was exactly what I was looking for, as well as the noscript.. thanks again.

and as for being a noob, i love it! This is the best part of learning due to how exciting it is to obtain the knowledge you're looking for.

Thanks again,

EoS - dan

[timkat]

I think that antivirus is the best solution, every computer user especially internet user, should have installed in its computer a good quality antivirus software. To find the one that best suits you, I recommend you to have a look on the reviews of the best antivirus programs and to choose one from there.

[vrkalak]

I think that antivirus is the best solution, every computer user especially internet user, should have installed in its computer a good quality antivirus software. To find the one that best suits you, I recommend you to have a look on the reviews of the best antivirus programs and to choose one from there.

^ Take note, that in this link not all programs are Linux compatible.

Here is another good link for Anti-virus/Firewall programs for Linux >> http://www.freebyte.com/antivirus/

My thoughts on this matter:

Ignoring security because it's Linux . . . a Naive viewpoint

A big part of me still wants to boast and say: "In the 2 years I have used Linux, I have never once had a virus, trojan, worm, mal-ware or been hacked".
Although that claim is true, it doesn't mean I should ignore security.

I have witnessed the effects of a rootkit on a Linux machine.
Tell new GNU/Linux users they cannot ignore security just because they're using Linux. Security is crucial, regardless of the OS.

[vincent]

Yep, I agree with the above. However, I just want to take this opportunity to remind people that just because you've installed a firewall and antivirus, doesn't mean you're safe. Ultimately, no software will completely secure your computer...it's up to you to do so, by practising common sense and safe computing.

[Varg]

Yep, I agree with the above. However, I just want to take this opportunity to remind people that just because you've installed a firewall and antivirus, doesn't mean you're safe. Ultimately, no software will completely secure your computer...it's up to you to do so, by practising common sense and safe computing.

I second that ! Even during my Windows days I had little or no problems with malware, a big part of security depends on your browsing and download behavior. ( I'm talking about home users, I have no experience with servers etc. )

[Pranaone]

I thought I might add something about anti-virus in linux, although Linux doesn't affected by viruses and malware it is possible for a virus to get a virus along with document/files you receive through email or p2p programs,if you share this with document/file with a windows user he will definitely get affected. so consider using a linux anti-virus program like ClamAV if you regularly share files with windows users and save them from the headache of(in worst cases) reinstalling their OS again.

[ccline19]

If you are connected to the Internet, you have increased your chances of obtaining a virus that will either infect your computer, or another computer by 100%

[vincent]

If you are connected to the Internet, you have increased your chances of obtaining a virus that will either infect your computer, or another computer by 100%

Cool story, bro. Let me know if you know anybody who is not connected to the Internet in this modern, technology-oriented age.

[AbeFreeman]

This thread talks a lot about web based virus threats, but I can't find an answer to my question, so here goes: I'm not a linux user yet (currently using windowsXP), but am REALLY tired of bringing home a virus every time I plug my usb drive or camera card into someone elses computer, some of which my (incredibly resource hungry) antivirus program can detect, some of which just slip by it, and promptly de-activate it. I'm living in China, so maybe this is a bigger problem here than in North America. But anyway, I have 2 questions: 1. Does Mint deal with this problem so it can be a thing of the past? (I've tried a live disk of mint and like the interfaces, but if this problem remains, I'll consider another distro or [sigh] stick with windows) 2.Since Mint is Ubuntu based, and this article: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/featur ... d?page=0,0 talks about Fedora being much better than Ubuntu for security (although I'm not sure they're talking about the same problem when they say "security", and they talk about installing SELinux, and some other password related stuff that is all Greek to me) would I be happier with Fedora?
Thanks in advance for help in answering this question
Abe

[tdockery97]

I don't have first-hand knowledge of Fedora, but what I've read lately leads me to believe that their additional security is on the level of an annoyance, much like UAC in windows 7. As far as viruses, all linux distros share a sort of built-in protection that Windows does not have. This comes from the fact that fewer virus and malware attacks are directed at linux due to fewer users in comparison to Windows. Also the permissions requirements in running a linux system provide additional protection because a virus or malware cannot hijack your system as it does not have root access. I've been using Mint for 7 months now and have not been attacked once by either a virus or malware.

[vincent]

As most viruses are indeed made for Windows and will only run on Windows as well, the chances of you catching a virus from a USB drive or some other removable drive is close to nil, mainly because viruses on external devices normally use an "Autorun" executable file to try to spread itself, and if you plug that same virus-infested USB drive onto a computer running Linux, it wouldn't do anything as Linux isn't able to run Windows .exe files (without special software like Wine), and besides, by default, any file that is downloaded to a Linux system from an external source does not have executable privileges. If you wanted to execute, say, a shell script you picked up from a friend over the Internet, you would have to give that script executable privileges through the use of "chmod +x". This is definitely much more safer than what Windows does...heck, if you rename any random text file and append it with .exe, Windows will forget it was a text file and just try to run it as an executable file.

Now, people have different tolerance levels for computer security; personally, I think UAC was one of the best steps Microsoft has ever taken in securing Windows, by making a more clearer distinction between the admin account and regular user accounts, and thus making it a more versatile multi-user platform (which Windows was never intended to be...but that's another story). Besides, Ubuntu/Mint has had "UAC" for many years with "sudo" and "gksudo". Well-defined and strict permissions and privileges, and the concept of least user access, are important concepts in Linux and many other Unix-like systems, and are essential for security. Anyways, Fedora has SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux), which extends this concept and allows you to define even more fine-grained permissions for individual programs and the like (mandatory access control instead of discretionary access control) installed by default, but you can do the same with Ubuntu and Mint. Ubuntu comes with AppArmor by default; Mint comes with neither. You can pick up either SELinux/AppArmor from Synaptic/apt-get if you're interested, although learning how they work can be a bit troublesome in the beginning, especially if you're new to Linux.

[AbeFreeman]

Thanks tdockery and vincent for your speedy and helpful replies. So will the .exe files be hidden ones (as they would be to Windows) to linux, or will I clearly see them on my usb drive and ask myself, "Where the heck did this file come from, it's not mine?" while I'm happily deleting it and laughing at myself for sticking with Windows for so long?
Abe

[tdockery97]

I haven't gotten around to using a usb device such as a camera or flash drive. But I know that if I put a cd/dvd with files on it in my drive, Nautilus (file manager) automatically opens it and shows what files are onboard. If usb doesn't do this you can still mount the device and look at the files your device contains. So yes, you would be able to tell if there's something foreign to you amongst the files.

[vincent]

I'm not too sure, but I think Windows and Linux employ different methods to "hide" files (that is, to not display them in a file manager like Windows Explorer or Gnome's Nautilus). In Linux, a file can be hidden by simply putting a period in front of the filename (i.e. ".file" instead of just "file"); most, if not all, Linux file managers would recognize that as a hidden file and would proceed to hide it by default. Different file managers have different keyboard shortcuts/menu options to unhide those hidden files, e.g. CTRL + H in Nautilus, and "ls -a" would also list all hidden files (from a terminal). In reality though, "hidden" files aren't really hidden...they are only hidden in the file manager you're using, but the OS and other applications can still see them. Unless you're talking about encrypted files, but that's another story.

[AbeFreeman]

Thanks. I just wanted to be sure that I could see them and delete them, so I wouldn't inadvertently pass on a virus, even though it didn't affect my OS.
Abe

[AbeFreeman]

Since you've been so speedy and helpful replying to my virus questions, want to take a look at my last post in the "Beginners guide to using and installing mint" section and see if you have an answer? I posted on Wednesday but haven't had a bite.
Thanks.
Abe