Do I need antivirus for my Mint 17.3 Rosa? - SOLVED

[DougWa]

I don't do <violates forum rules> sites and I'm not an idiot that falls for phishermen. However, I do all my paypal and banking on this Linux, so... do I need antivirus? If so, which? I guess Comodo makes a product, but I seem to recall that ALL free antivirus programs are basically telemetry gatherers for profit.
Advice?
ps: May I go for a two-for? I'm using a LTS release and don't want to do more pc work than necessary. When must I abandon Rosa and go with the latest?

[richyrich]

I have been using Mint since Mint 5 and have never had a virus, and have never installed an antivirus program. Yes, I do online banking; I just look to make sure I see the lock in the address bar before I login.

Mint 17 is supported until 2019.

[karlchen]

Hello, DougWa.

This thread should cover the topic from different perspectives: Questions about Defragging or Antivirus? Look here first!
In case you wish to read more threads about the topic "Antivirus on Linux Mint", use this pre-fabricated forum search and retrieve many more such threads, including more recent threads: >> Antivirus <<

HTH,
Karl

[WharfRat]

do I need antivirus? If so, which? I guess Comodo makes a product, but I seem to recall that ALL free antivirus programs are basically telemetry gatherers for profit.
Advice?

My advice is, as I believe many here will echo, do not use any Antivirus programs/scanners.

There's really no need for them

[lexon]

I have been using Linux since 2003. Never had any issues with a virus.
I buy at Amazon. ebay and a few other online companies and do my banking also.
My bank will question me when out on a trip and using my laptop for online purchase and checking my bank account. I normally send my bank customer service an email when heading out of town.

L

[bob466]

No you don't...one of the many great things about Linux...no viruses.

[Schultz]

Also read this:

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... t/security

[majpooper]

A couple of things you can do when it comes to on-line banking and on-line shopping security:

Protect your self from DNS spoofing (supposedly the most vulnerable point is you router) - there are a couple of ways to do this:
1- OpenDNS from CISCO is free
https://support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/ar ... 087-Ubuntu
2. Sandbox your browser in firejail and use the high security option
firejail --private --dns=8.8.8.8 --dns=8.8.4.4 firefox -no-remote
firejail is just a good idea anyway and is relativel easy to install
https://firejail.wordpress.com/

Use a VPN while banking or shopping on-line
here is a thread on this forum - everyone has an opinion regarding what to look for in a VPN and which ones they like.
I use PrivateTunnel and I am very happy with it - it is inexpensive and fast. I personally would stay away from the free VPNs. Recently I was listing to a very reputable security pod cast (Steve Gibson) and he recommended TunnelBear

If you do those two things IMHO you will be secure in terms of on-line banking and shopping.

As far as anti-virus, malware etc. is concerned - just not an issue with linux.

[DougWa]

Great stuff, THANKS!
RE: karlchen: My apologies, Mr. Mod, I did try to look here first but the forum was offline, and when I tried duckduckgo for "linux mint antivirus" the results were disappointing. Your links were very helpful, TY!!
And thanks to everyone else too!
Warm regards -
Doug

[jimallyn]

I will agree with all the rest: you do not need an antivirus. I have been running Linux for 15 years, with no antivirus, and none of my Linux computers have ever been infected with any virus or malware. And having been on Linux forums for that 15 years, much of it as a moderator or administrator, I have been exposed to many, many Linux users. I have never seen any case where anybody's Linux computer has been infected with a virus or malware. I won't say that it can't happen, but I will say that I have never seen it happen.

[Moem]

I'm using a LTS release and don't want to do more pc work than necessary. When must I abandon Rosa and go with the latest?

April 2019, as stated here: https://linuxmint.com/download_all.php

[karlchen]

Hi, Doug.

Great stuff, THANKS! RE: karlchen: My apologies, Mr. Mod,

Sorry, this seems to be a misunderstanding.
My pre-fabricated search was not meant to blame you or to teach you how to search.
It was just meant to give you the list of threads which I had already located.
(And I had been so happy that I could pass on in a simple link the search parameters which I had used in the extended search dialogue. It had not occurred to me this might look like blaming anyone.)

Cheers,
Karl

[hcentaur13]

Is your brain fully functional?
NO: dont use a computer anyway.
Yes; switch it on before you switches on your computer

Don't click blindly that shows like a link. The true lins is shown by a good brower in the status line! If it shows different then it will load a virus or trojan or sonething else not good for the health of your computer.
Dom't click to open an attachment! It qill be an virus...
Don't trust the seder - it can be faked to somethin bad,
Learn to interpret the header of emails.