Linux mint 19

[gordie1969]

I moved from Windows 10 to Linux Mint 19 and love it the only question is I discover fire jail you need it or am I safe I use this laptop for banking I turn the firewall and do my updates when it required

[WharfRat]

Hello gordie1969

Welcome to Linux Mint and the Linux Mint forum

I don't bother with fire jail or ufw and never had a problem with banking or stock trading.

If it makes you feel safer then by all means use them.

[Pepi]

Hello gordie1969

Welcome to Linux Mint and the Linux Mint forum

I don't bother with fire jail or ufw and never had a problem with banking or stock trading.

If it makes you feel safer then by all means use them.

Do you use a firewall on your router? I can see not using firejail but I really think a firewall is a good idea. Just my opinion

[deepakdeshp]

welcome to the forum

[WharfRat]

Do you use a firewall on your router? I can see not using firejail but I really think a firewall is a good idea. Just my opinion

Yes, I'm behind this router

[Pepi]

I just bought a Asus with a firewall build in. Pretty cool idea IMHO

[kc1di]

Hello gordie1969,
Welcome to Linux Mint Forums, Enjoy.

P.S. use ufw works great.

[majpooper]

Hi gordie,

If you have a firewall turned on your router you really don't need your firewall turned on in Mint - but since turning it on is "too easy" with just one click you might as well do it - it can't hurt.

firejail is a very good tool for protecting your system overall - and does have a role to play in enhancing security for on-line banking and shopping. Below is from the firejail documentation.

I use a dedicated browser just for banking and on-line shopping setup as recommended below except I use 1.1.1.1 (I only use one instance of dns) rather than Google. Also I set it up in the menu properties rather than from the terminal command line for convenience.

Code: Select all

$ firejail --private --dns=8.8.8.8 --dns=8.8.4.4 firefox -no-remote

High security browser setup

Use this setup to access your bank account, or any other site dealing with highly sensitive private information. The idea is you trust the site, but you don’t trust the addons and plugins installed in your browser. Use –private Firejail option to start with a factory default browser configuration, and an empty home directory.

Also, you would need to take care of your DNS setting – current home routers are ridiculously insecure, and the easiest attack is to reconfigure DNS, and redirect the traffic to a fake bank website. Use –dns Firejail option to specify a DNS configuration for your sandbox:

The two DNS servers above belong to Google, and at least one national security agency has access to logging information. Don’t use them for anything else than banking. We also add -no-remote so we don’t end up by mistake in an already running “entertainment” browser.

The other big security vulnerability is your router:
1.) Make sure your firmware is up to date (one thing I like about LinkSys WRT routers is that they can be set to automatically update - but there are others brands that have that feature as well - otherwise you must do it manually)
2.) Turn off UPnP on the WAN side - if you are not sure and you are not a gamer just turn UPnP off
3.) Turn on the firewall
4.) Change the admin password from the default.

[phd21]

Hi gordie1969,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux Mint and its excellent forum!

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

+1 for turning on the firewalls

+1 for using Firejail as well.

+ 1 for changing the default Internet Service Provider (ISP) DNS servers to secure ones from a DNS provider. Also recommend using a VPN server connection for encrypted and anonymous Internet access.

+1 for using a dedicated browser with more security features enabled and adding security-related browser extensions and add-ons, especially for online banking, online payments (shopping), paying bills, etc... I do this for all installed browsers anyway. Using a Private "incognito" window to access these type of sites.

There are many good posts in this forum regarding "online banking".

New Linux Mint user - web privacy questions - Linux Mint Forums
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=282719

Hope this helps ...