Question about viruses.

[Linkdead_]

One of the first things I learned when I decided to give Linux a shot was that there are no viruses that can infect a Linux system. In searching around and reading since installing I have come to realization that the previous statement isn't 100% true. I have the understanding that a virus CAN infect a Linux system, but due to how permissions work it is a tough nut to crack and most people that will write viruses won't bother writing them for Linux because in the end it just isn't worth it. I also read that there are currently no known active viruses targeting the Linux operating system. Is that really true? After some experience rooting around my own system, it's an easy pill to swallow that it would be a right pain in the butt to bury a virus into a Linux filesystem without the user making some grievous errors, but believing there are no viruses out there is a different pill. Is that actually true?

[xenopeek]

This is largely true for home users. You can add Firejail to your system if you want some more peace of mind. Tutorial: viewtopic.php?f=42&t=240157. Firejail is a security sandbox that comes with default configuration for many common programs. Firejail restricts what parts of your system and personal files a program can access. Should for example some malware run in your web browser, it won't be able to infect your system files as Firejail makes that impossible and at most the malware could mess with your personal stuff in the browser (bookmarks, add-ons and such) and with your Downloads directory as all your other personal directories are not visible to your web browser when running in Firejail. Firejail is useful to use with programs that either connect to the Internet themselves (e.g., web browsers) or that could work with untrusted files downloaded from the Internet (e.g., image viewer and document viewer).

[JoeFootball]

Your summary sounds accurate. More info here, for your consideration.

Joe

[Linkdead_]

Thank you. I just wanted to get my facts straight really. I have some other people interested in trying out Linux Mint and I wanted to be sure I gave them accurate information! And I had previously seen that site you mentioned. That gentleman (or people, not sure how many of them work on it) have a lot of great articles like that on their site.