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I've just started using Linux a couple of days ago when my windowsXP restore disk for my laptop wouldn't work, so I decided to try Ubuntu instead. So far I'm really enjoying using it. I liked it so much that this morning I created a 2nd partition on my desktop PC and installed Ubuntu to that as well. I would like to ask about firewalls, anti-virus and spyware. Well basically do I need a firewall and anti-virus and what sort of risk is spyware to Linux systems? |
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I always like to think of the relationship between Linux and malware as like a person who has an immunity to many diseases: You may be immune to the swine flu, but if you have friends who aren't immune, then maybe it would be nice to make sure you follow guidelines to avoid having it for the sake of your friends. It's a little like that. A big reason to have an anti-malware (anti-virus, etc.) soultion on your Linux box would be mainly to help out your Windows friends. Put Simply: It's not really necessary to have an anti-malware on your system. But I like ClamAV, if you REALLY want one. |
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Short answer is yes, no, none. :) Longer answer is - firewalls are another layer of protection and will help prevent someone else from taking over your machine. Luckily, all distros have iptables already installed. Virus protection is unnecessary for Linux, though if you feed files to Windows users (whether by email or otherwise), you will help protect them if you have one. As to spyware, there is (as yet) no spyware for Linux. This may change, but it hasn't for many years. |
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