Antivirus on Linux Mint Discussion (off-topics posts from "Best Antivirus for Linux Mint 20.1")

[rene]

Okay... so now that this thread's concluded with can I now come in and start simply insulting people that push anti-virus crap on desktop Linux?

[Marie SWE]

I am always pleased to discuss a topic with people, who have a different opinion. Important is, that the discussion runs nicely. In this sense, you are very welcome.

Same here, it is fun to discuss things when we all have different point of view. and of course it should be nice and civilized discussions.
To discuss with someone that only think the same never get interesting.. The interesting parts is the differences as that gives me new ways to see on things and to learn more about the subjects.

Back in the middle of 90's I was a gray-hat hacker and i had a cool hackername as all had in the 90's
nowadays I'm just interested in cybersecurity and plan to expand my knowledge to start working as a pentester as I'm so sick of my current jobs.. so this security threads is extra interesting as I have a lot more to learn on the Linux side.

[Marie SWE]

Moderator Note: This is a support topic in the Software & Applications section of the forum where the OP asked for a software recommendation. Only those offering a recommendation should be posting here.

OP did not ask for a discussion on the pros and cons of anti-virus. If you want to discuss the pros and cons, create your own topic in the Chat section of the forum. I am removing all off-topic posts.

As this is an interesting off topic discussion, can you split this thread in to open chat?
Please.

[SMG]

As this is an interesting off topic discussion, can you split this thread in to open chat?
Please.

It's the same discussion which happens every couple of months so I do not know there is really anything new here, but enjoy your discussion.

[Marie SWE]

As this is an interesting off topic discussion, can you split this thread in to open chat?
Please.

It's the same discussion which happens every couple of months so I do not know there is really anything new here, but enjoy your discussion.

Thanks.

Yes i know, and as the always come up as off topic discussions they end with thread clean up or locks. So I think an open chat about this topic can benefit both new and old users.

Thanks again.

[Marie SWE]

Okay... so now that this thread's concluded with can I now come in and start simply insulting people that push anti-virus crap on desktop Linux?

Now it is split in to open chat, so go for it.

[rene]

OP's original question is/was "what is the best antivirus for Linux Mint". The correct answer and the one that many gave including reasons for that in the original thread is "None" -- alhtough that correct and most valuable answer is now no longer in the original thread but only here.

[cliffcoggin]

(Or in a typical German wording: looking at the radishes from below.)

That's a phrase I must try to remember. In England the equivalent is "pushing up daisies"

[Neophyte]

https://www.linux.com/news/linux-malwar ... t-threats/

According to AV-Test, MacOS computers saw the largest increase in malware targeting in 2016 with a 370 percent increase, but Linux was close behind with a 300 percent rise from the previous year — triple the number in 2015. WatchGuard’s Internet Security Report, which instead focuses on Q1 2017, claims that Linux malware made up more than 36 percent of the top threats.

Note that they do not use the word virus? Malware doesn't mean viruses necessarily.

Clam is only meant for Linux mail servers to scan attachments, it's never been meant as a general purpose AV program.

Put it this way. Desktop Linux has a very small user base. In Linux you have to enter your password to install anything unless you turn that off (which is not very smart). You'd have to be an idiot to want to write Linux viruses with all those Windows boxes out there.

Except the whole point is for malware to infect your machine without your interaction, or to piggyback off of some other interaction.

Saying they wouldn't target Linux because of a small userbase is ridiculous, wishful thinking, especially after this has already happened:

https://arstechnica.com/information-tec ... ck-attack/

Clem Lefebvre, confirmed in a blog post that the "intrusion" had taken place over the weekend. He said: "Hackers made a modified Linux Mint ISO, with a backdoor in it, and managed to hack our website to point to it."

[Cosmo.]

https://arstechnica.com/information-tec ... ck-attack/

Clem Lefebvre, confirmed in a blog post that the "intrusion" had taken place over the weekend. He said: "Hackers made a modified Linux Mint ISO, with a backdoor in it, and managed to hack our website to point to it."

Which AV program on user's system would have prevented this?

[Neophyte]

https://arstechnica.com/information-tec ... ck-attack/

Clem Lefebvre, confirmed in a blog post that the "intrusion" had taken place over the weekend. He said: "Hackers made a modified Linux Mint ISO, with a backdoor in it, and managed to hack our website to point to it."

Which AV program on user's system would have prevented this?

I am not interested in engaging with your logical fallacy. I was just debunking the claim of "Security through Obscurity."

[Portreve]

Ordinarily, Apple is not as fast at addressing vulnerabilities as the folks in the Linux world, at least when it isn't something where a business entity doesn't interfere with them (z.B. Intel hampering kernel developers from being able to patch against CPU vulnerabilities). That said, in general if you want a system which you need to worry about as little as possible, most mainstream Linux distributions and macOS are best bets.

My Windows 11 install just has Microsoft's Windows Defender on it, and I don't do stupid things nor do I go to dangerous places, so (thus far, anyhow) it's not been a problem.

Honestly, now that I work for █████████████████ what I've seen with my own eyes is the landscape out there has radically changed since I worked for Sony. I'm not seeing the same kind of numbers of people with their systems getting taken down by viruses or other malware as I did back in the days of Windows XP. So, there's that. However, Microsoft's customers have paid a terrible price (in my opinion) for this.

[Marie SWE]

https://arstechnica.com/information-tec ... ck-attack/

Clem Lefebvre, confirmed in a blog post that the "intrusion" had taken place over the weekend. He said: "Hackers made a modified Linux Mint ISO, with a backdoor in it, and managed to hack our website to point to it."

Which AV program on user's system would have prevented this?

No one.
It have also happen that a repo mirror got hacked in the same way.. i don't remember what distro it was.. but someone with a hot google-kung-fu can probably find it.

But if you as a user never uses your downloads within a week, this kind of things can be avoided as they often will be discovered within days.. so if you have a week or a couple of weeks old downloads you may discover it before you uses them... as for malware embedded in programs.. as zeroday no AV will discover it..but if you have it just laying in the download folder for a while, then the chance of a AV company may discover it and pushed out a av signature for it before you install it.

But for those who installs it as they is in a hurry.. a really good system monitor is the best way to discover zeroday things.. unwanted network traffic, disk activity's, or unknown cpu processes.
with a ransomware.. a old sata1 or sata2 and 5400rpm HDD is your best friend.. as you will have time to react.. hardreset or just pull the power cord.. with an modern M.2 disk.. then it's over before you have reached the power cord.

[Marie SWE]

Common sense isn't very common these days.

that was a good one.

[HaveaMint]

The only virus I have ever had was in the 90's and "I" clicked on it. The site that had it laughed and said "You should be more careful on what you click on". I wiped everything including personal files and zeroed the drive, unplugged the memory along with setting the bios to default. Lesson learned the hard way. I haven't had one since YET . Trust no one and never click on a link from any email.

[rambo919]

The way I see people speak on how to avoid getting a virus is not dissimilar to agoraphobia.....

"If you do nothing that even vaguely opens you to risk then nothing risky will happen to you.... no I won't go outside, haven't done it in a decade and I don't need to start now."

[antikythera]

There's going outside and then there's going outside in a thunderstorm to play 18 holes of golf, I guess that's where the common sense factor comes into play. And yes having lived next to a golf course I have seen people doing exactly that, even sheltering under trees...

One idiot born every minute.

[rambo919]

There's going outside and then there's going outside in a thunderstorm to play 18 holes of golf,

That actually sounds kinda fun....

[RollyShed]

There's going outside and then there's going outside in a thunderstorm to play 18 holes of golf,

That actually sounds kinda fun....

Were they wearing masks and totally inoculated too?

As for AV, I thought VLC was reasonable for that. Yes, Audio Visual which is what AV has been for the past 50-60 years.

[Hoser Rob]

As this is an interesting off topic discussion, can you split this thread in to open chat?
Please.

It's the same discussion which happens every couple of months so I do not know there is really anything new here, but enjoy your discussion.

Yeah, this must be the most commonly recurring pointless topic here.

Here's my points: Viruses are distinguished from other malware by their ability to replicate themselves. In any Linux, like Unix or Apple OS, you have to enter a password to install anything. Desktop Linux has a very, very small user base. What kind of fool would want to write Linux viruses with so many much easier to infect WIndows computere out there?

I've been using nothing but Linux and reading various forums for about a decade. I've never seen a credible report of a Linux virus outside a lab.