Clam av warning

[thx-1138]

This "crusade" is ongoing, for the foreseeable future.... Beginners don't read old threads on this forum, so they'll keep asking the same questions about antivirus.

Be prepared to answer them monthly or even weekly. That's how it is. Old Windows habits die hard.

I'm afraid the only way for people to finally stop installing AV stuff under Linux would be if someone supplied a properly made patch in the kernel to prevent them from loading their modules in the first place...
Could also be exposed to end-users with a standard grub2 switch, av_kernel_hooks_disable=1 (default)... oh wait, then they'd detect the kernel as malware...

It's the absolute definition of placebo with a dose of snake oil thrown in for a good measure...
There are more than 600 million samples out there. And approximately 12 million samples created for Windows on every month that passes. Yes, 12 million on Windows every single month -> read it even from people in the AV industry themselves.

For a numbers' comparison...there are currently approximately 3000 fatal car accidents in the whole of Europe every month: and you still drive happily - you just use common sense, ie. you make sure that you wear your belt & that you 'don't drink & drive'.
How many have their been on Linux? 200? 300? Exaggerate and say maybe 2000 in...27 years?
27 x 12 = 324 months. So, at worst case scenario...6 per month?
3000 / 6...so it is 500 times safer than...common daily driving? Not to mention that it's even safer than that, considering that even among those, lots are either long time now inactive or merely proof-of-concepts....

Why people insist on using such under Linux is something that absolutely escapes me...
Even John McAfee, this extra-controversial figure who became a multi-millionaire by making the 1st commercial AV ever in 1987, stated himself a couple of yrs ago:
"anti-virus software is dead, it no longer works...the new paradigm has to stop the hacker getting in before they can do damage."

...O Rly? 'Cause -go figure!- that's exactly what Linux (& BSDs) have been doing all along since day 1...
It works (and has been proved to work) just fine all along - bring the cops in, and you can be certain the criminals will follow on afterwards...

[all41]

It's the absolute definition of placebo with a dose of snake oil thrown in for a good measure...

This deserves a repeat.

[Lucap]

Macs and malware – See how Apple has changed its marketing message
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/0 ... g-message/

Don’t believe these four myths about Linux security
https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2015/03/2 ... -security/

[thx-1138]

...well, for Sophos specifically, i'd say that instead of promoting their ideas &...'free' products to Linux users, they'd probably be better off actually protecting the stuff they've been tasked to...
Saying that because it doesn't really seem to me that they've been extremely successful in doing so
http://i.imgur.com/IOtNArL.jpg
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/15/sophos_nhs/

[Lucap]

They need Clam AV.

[Pjotr]

Don’t believe these four myths about Linux security
https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2015/03/2 ... -security/

We from the Yellow Rubber Duck company recommend.... yellow rubber ducks.

[Cosmo.]

I'm afraid the only way for people to finally stop installing AV stuff under Linux would be if someone supplied a properly made patch in the kernel to prevent them from loading their modules in the first place...

I hear already loud complaints about the (often misunderstood) freedom of choice.

[TomT3rd]

Karlchen

Sorry about posting my comment in the wrong thread. I rarely post comments .

[rickNS]

Yes--Mint is missing out on such things as antivirus and malware program downloads from unknown sources, malware scans, definition updates, scan scheduling, false reports, scanning and cleaning with untrusted cleaner software, defragging, os updates holding open shutdown and reboot, and now even mandatory updates.

GREAT POST ! I pressed the "like" button.
Yeah in my 10 years of linux, I never heard of an "infection", other people who have been linux for 20 years know of no infection, yet newbees (OP in this case has 5 posts) continually post this kind of scare. Funny or sad, take your pick.

[absque fenestris]

Yes--Mint is missing out on such things as antivirus and malware program downloads from unknown sources, malware scans, definition updates, scan scheduling, false reports, scanning and cleaning with untrusted cleaner software, defragging, os updates holding open shutdown and reboot, and now even mandatory updates.

GREAT POST ! I pressed the "like" button.
Yeah in my 10 years of linux, I never heard of an "infection", other people who have been linux for 20 years know of no infection, yet newbees (OP in this case has 5 posts) continually post this kind of scare. Funny or sad, take your pick.

Yes, yes, there is already an "infection" in Linux: it starts with capital letter W - popular is the variant 7, less popular 10 and many, many love XP

[Jim Hauser]

I am not an expert on Linux or Mint but I do know this. When I first came over to Linux Mint I was looking for a good anti-virus and anti-malware program. But instead of doing what I thought was proper at the time I read what the experts had to say about the subject first. I followed their advice and have been running Mint KDE for 4 years without any anti-virus or anti-malware programs. This system has also gone 4 years without any type of virus or malware infiltration. The experts were right!

For security this system has an external firewall/router, Linux Mint itself, common sense and good advice from experts.

The biggest threat to my system is the guy typing on the keyboard. For me a good backup policy is more important compared to constant virus/malware scans.

I can understand the worry about passing something on to a Windows user but a Linux Mint desktop user shouldn't worry about them at all... They are the experts on scanning and getting rid of the threats not us.

[Jim Hauser]

4 years without any infiltration is good but there a users who have gone much longer than that.