Hmmmm.... Antivirus? Antimalware?

[agwellin]

So last time I checked, Linux-based systems were not particularly known for attracting the wrath of malware-makers. Don't think that's changed, but just checking with you guys to make sure that's still the case. If I did decide to protect my Pandora in some manner, is there any compatible software you guys could recommend? any open-source antivirus/antimalware that's been ported over?

 

[Klaue]

The last time I heard of a Linux virus it was a java based one that attacked all major operating systems. It diddn't survive a single reboot on Linux


And as far as I remember, the hole it was able to squeeze trough is long closed now.


I'd say that an antivirus on a linux system is just wasting ressources. To my knowledge, there's not a single linux virus in the wild and there were maybe 10 or so in total, all of which can't get in anymore (and at least half of them were just proof of concept ones that were never released to the net)

 

[XxionxX]

Don't let the security of linux lull you into a false sense of security though. You can still have your email broken into, and a weak password will provide no defence against brute force attacks. A lock isn't a lock if everyone knows the combination.

 

[3jane]

Don't let the security of linux lull you into a false sense of security though. You can still have your email broken into, and a weak password will provide no defence against brute force attacks. A lock isn't a lock if everyone knows the combination.

True that, but unless you leave your pandora running a web or ssh server visible from the internet, I wouldn't worry about it

 

[Eridger]

Don't let the security of linux lull you into a false sense of security though. You can still have your email broken into, and a weak password will provide no defence against brute force attacks. A lock isn't a lock if everyone knows the combination.

True that, but unless you leave your pandora running a web or ssh server visible from the internet, I wouldn't worry about it

And if you need an internet-facing ssh server for some reason, denyhosts.

 

[Letalis Sonus]

The few ones that really existed were very specific and usually used security holes that were already fixed months ago, targeting mainly outdated systems using a specific distribution, making it useless on distros which are not even based on that one.


Actually, there is a quite well known open source AV software for Linux systems: ClamAV. But - surprise surprise - it doesn't search for Linux malware, it exists to prevent you from spreading Windows malware unknowingly.

 

[Blue Protoman]

How come Linux is so secure anyway?

 

[TrashyMG]

How come Linux is so secure anyway?

It wasn't designed by Microsoft...


But seriously, it's mostly because of the way the file permissions work, as in they actually work well to not allow other users to mess with or execute code that isn't theirs. The core OS is pretty isolated with root only permissions.. As long as the user doesn't run everything in root it's fairly safe. Microsoft still can't seem to figure this out, doesn't help Windows has a ton of hidden back doors into their OS that shady people love to exploit.

 

[Blue Protoman]

Ah, sweet.

 

[darfgarf]

Microsoft still can't seem to figure this out

they did try, now we get certain specific protected areas, like C:\ that nothing can write to without badgering the user, with a very uninformative dialog, and doing it so often it's more worth it to turn the 'feature' off than use it

 

[agwellin]

they did try, now we get certain specific protected areas, like C:\ that nothing can write to without badgering the user, with a very uninformative dialog, and doing it so often it's more worth it to turn the 'feature' off than use it

God, that's annoying. I'd love it if you could whitelist programs you use often, but when I can't open something mundane like NEStopia without that thing popping up, there's a problem.

 

[darfgarf]

God, that's annoying. I'd love it if you could whitelist programs you use often, but when I can't open something mundane like NEStopia without that thing popping up, there's a problem.

and that's a program that doesn't even need admin rights right?


i just turn it off permanently and deal with cruddy security, windows is only used to play steam games anwyay

 

[agwellin]

Pretty much unrelated, but while we're on the subject of things Windows does wrong:


I just got the urge to defragment my HDD. Windows Disk defragmenter says my disk is 0% fragmented. Auslogic Disk Defrag begs to differ with 20%.


Thank you, Windows. Thank you.

 

[WizardStan]

I keep meaning to build ClamAV. All computer devices connected to my company's network are required to have an antivirus, even if it is just to prevent the spread of Windows viruses.

 

[mahousaru]

Security apps on Linux.... Great subject... Very complex and best applied in many layers like an onion....


In terms of Windows like security apps....


Anti virus... Personally I would only run this if you want to protect MS Window users. So if you are running a mail server or sharing via CIFS/Samba and don't want them scan a network drive. Only run the AV on the data that is shared, waste of resources to scan the whole server and also reduces the hardiness of your server. <- the AV needs a ton of rights to scan everything so potentially becomes a point of attack.


Root Kits - chkrootkit and rkhunter are the standard fare for detection, but prevention look at file auditing via Tripwire or Aide


You can harden your system using scripts like bastille and they are great as a learning tool (by seeing what they do).

 

[Jourdy288]

All I can think of is Panda for DOSBox, really.

 

[I8NY]

i was surfing on ubuntu and went to a bad site. it popped up "my computer" (XP style) and did a scan saying it found viruses. it wanted me to click yes to remove the viruses but i just laughed my head off :lol:

 

[DavidBowman]

How come Linux is so secure anyway?

For the reasons given above AND because it's not a target like Windows is. If the majority of the world used Linux, you can bet that it would be a target and a lot of unknown security problems would be exploited. Linux isn't bulletproof, but it's still WAY better than Windows when it comes to security.

 

[laurencevde]

Well, there ARE a couple of linux-worms out there, that try to worm themselves in through brute-forcing ssh, or unpatched holes in web-software like forums, but choose good passwords, and auto-update your software and they won't come in...


Dedicated, targeted attacks by someone who knows what he's doing often still are effective...


For the rest, here's a list of things that make linux pretty tough to break into on a large scale:


1: Software is installed pretty much exlusively from a trusted source (the repositories). This makes trojan horses pretty much impossible.


2: All software is auto-updated, making abusing old holes very hard.


3: Everyone can search for holes and contribute patches, before or after the software gets released. This means that you don't have to rely on single vendors for your security, and generally speaking, holes are discovered earlier, and fixed faster. Biggest source of holes on linux? Adobe's flash-plugin...


4: No 2 distro's are alike, deminishing the amount of machines malware can affect.


5: Filesystem-rights, giving proper separation of machine and user, and access-control. Malware can't really do much to affect the machine without additional trouble.


6: Things like AppArmor and SElinux, that limit what individual applications can do, down to the bare minimum of what they need.


7: A general sense in the community that security matters.


8: Not relying on/bothering the user to make or keep its machines secure.


So basically, no trojan horses, quick patching, lots of trouble to make something that's effective, and even if something does get in, it can't do squat...

 

[Eridger]

How come Linux is so secure anyway?

For the reasons given above AND because it's not a target like Windows is. If the majority of the world used Linux, you can bet that it would be a target and a lot of unknown security problems would be exploited. Linux isn't bulletproof, but it's still WAY better than Windows when it comes to security.

Ah yes, the 'security through obscurity' argument. Excuse me, I'm going to go scream in a closet.