Do I need antivirus and a firewall?
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There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions use the other forums in the support section.
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Re: Do I need antivirus and a firewall?
Linux doesn't need a anti-virus. The funniest thing I've seen was when I was a newbie and really liked Lindows/Linspire and they were selling a Linux anti-virus, so they can just suck your money and give you a program that is practically useless. There are like 6 linux viruses and they don't even affect Debian. So you are practically safe with Linux Mint.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
- Noob Saibot
- Level 2
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:41 am
- Location: North America
Re: Do I need antivirus and a firewall?
I would recommend guarddog as it passes the Shields Up! test and using ipblock as well.
Enjoying the Mint Experience
"(to touch the earth is to have harmony with nature)" -hippy
"(to touch the earth is to have harmony with nature)" -hippy
Re: Do I need antivirus and a firewall?
Iptables comes with a basic installation of Mint, so you have a firewall at install. Just use firestarter to configure it if you want to be a bit more "secure":
Firestarter is just a GUI used to configure iptables, no need for it to be running for the firewall to be "in effect". As for the necessity of a firewall is debatable, if you have a decent router that should have a built in firewall, your ISP probably has a firewall "in the line", so that makes it at least 2 walls before your computer, and a local one is more a matter of taste and the stealth mode capabilities.
As for AV or AS, it is a complete waste of resource and space on a linux box, most known spyware and virus only runs on Windows, and do not work on OSX or Linux/Unix/BSD/Solaris etc, one of the benefits of using a *x OS. You could occasionally delete your temporary internet files to clean out tracker cookies though, those are platform independent..
Code: Select all
sudo aptitude install firestarter
As for AV or AS, it is a complete waste of resource and space on a linux box, most known spyware and virus only runs on Windows, and do not work on OSX or Linux/Unix/BSD/Solaris etc, one of the benefits of using a *x OS. You could occasionally delete your temporary internet files to clean out tracker cookies though, those are platform independent..