Do i need a firewall and antivirus for linux?

[kasavien]

Hi all.

I'm quite excited whilst writing this, its my first post from my new toy, a P3 linux machine Its my first attempt at using linux outside of work and university, so i'm learning a lot of things from new. I'm quite pleased that i managed to install a 56k internal modem tonight, but it made me wonder, do i need a firewall and or antivirus with linux? Sorry if its a stupid question but i really have no clue. I know linux is fairly seure, but i'm not sure what security measures i need to employ. The distribution i'm using is Ubuntu.

Thanks in advance for any help people can give

Andy

[vicar]

Yes you do. It should already be enabled on your software, Most people would just rely on what comes bundled with their OS.

But You can try http://www.fs-security.com/ for a 'free' firewall download. If you feel the need to.

This excellent how to guide is useful for bedtime reading http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Firewall-HOWTO.html

Hope you find the above useful.

[mike_w]

I personally use Firestarter (which has already been pointed out). I don't think there is a huge risk of virus attack so long as you use your common sense. Don't forget to update all the packages as well.

[directhex]

you'll be hard-pressed to find antivirus software which actually scans for linux viruses (as opposed to windows viruses, e.g. on a mail server)

you'd be better served with a rootkit scanner

[stmok]

Hi all.

I'm quite excited whilst writing this, its my first post from my new toy, a P3 linux machine Its my first attempt at using linux outside of work and university, so i'm learning a lot of things from new. I'm quite pleased that i managed to install a 56k internal modem tonight, but it made me wonder, do i need a firewall and or antivirus with linux? Sorry if its a stupid question but i really have no clue. I know linux is fairly seure, but i'm not sure what security measures i need to employ. The distribution i'm using is Ubuntu.

Thanks in advance for any help people can give

Andy

Firewall capability is built into Linux by default. Its called iptables.
You can use a GUI front-end like Firestarter to manage your rules.

For anti-virus, you can download and use ClamAV. Also, read about security tools like Tripwire or AIDE, and rootkit checkers. If you're serious about security, consider kernel enhancements like grSecurity or Access Control solutions like SELinux or AppArmor. (SELinux provides better features and protection, but at the cost of a higher learning curve).

The best security Linux (and Unix) offers, is logs! If you run into any trouble, always check the logs! (This is where skilled crackers will try, as they want to cover up their tracks!).

I suggest you read about securing your Linux box and get familiar with the various tools available. (There's a distro called BackTrack, that contains security tools that allow you to test your system's security...Its one good to play around with, if you really want to be sure of your system security).