Antivirus for Ubuntu

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Hi can anyone suggest a good (possibly free) antivirus and spyware removal program for Ubuntu...

Also if anyone has a good website for downloading appz for Linux similar to say download.com it would be much appreciated as I'm trying to get to grips with Linux and want to tinker with different appz.

 

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I have been messing around with ubuntu lately and these sites were suggested by my mate who has more linux knowledge than me.

http://www.clamav.net/

http://www.linuxlinks.com/Software/Networking/Anti-Virus/index.shtml

Hope these help mate

 

Rostros, cheers m8 for the links they look really good...

 

No worries mate!

I haven't tried them myself so don't hold your breath!

Also you might want a look here for advice on all ubuntu related issues.

 

You're going to find that the antivirus programs out there for Linux are mainly used for mail servers, and they contain only definitions for viruses that affect Windows machines.

I've been running Debian for more than a year now and I never use antivirus, malware, spyware, etc... software. There's just no need for it. I've even left my system directly exposed to the internet for weeks at a time without a firewall. It was never compromised.

I updated it regularly, but that was it. Linux truly is far more secure than Windows. In my experience there's no comparison to tell the truth. I'd never do with a Window's system what I've done with a Linux system--i.e. no antivirus, no malware/spyware cleaners, no firewall.

With Linux you actually get to use your system's resources for doing what you want to do, not for running a whole bunch of utilities designed to protect it. Linux is protected by its design, not by third party products.

 

I have to recommend ClamAV if you really need an AVP program.

I have been running ClamWIN, the windows decendant of it for a while now with no issues what at all.

The thing to realise is that most viruses out there are written to attack windows systems. The people who wirte the viruses very often use linux, so why would they wirte a program that may dammage themselves?

 

i have to agree with simon on this one. the only real reason Linux is fairly safe, on the virus front at least, is because the majority of computers use Windows, people wanting to screw with the system are better off writing virii aimed at windows for this particular reason (certainly doesnt help thats its full of holes though).

Linux is a lot harder to write a virus for, since if i wrote one using my install as the testing ground, its more or less unique, i cant gaurantee that anyone else will have the same setup. It IS still possible though. this is a piece of software, written by humans, there will always be ways to get a virus to work in the system. its just that few people spend much time trying at present, that will change if linux gets on level with windows, or indeed exceeds it as the primary OS in use.

 

To address this and Fergal's post....

You guys have a very simplistic outlook on this. By design, Linux is much harder to attack. The way its file structure is created, the way file permissions are given to executables and files, the way the PATH is set up for regular users, are all things that make Linux much less vulnerable to attack than Windows is. Unless an attacker can get the user to change permissions on a file to make it an executable and get them to run it, or crash the system with a vulnerability that will allow them to get to root privileges, it's very difficult to get a virus to propagate or do any kind of damage in a Linux system.

This is security by design, not by accident or obscurity. This means its almost impossible to get a virus to spread if even elementary precautions are taken. Also, most daemons and programs don't run with root privileges so that makes it even more difficult.

As far as I know there is only one Linux distro out there that makes itself easy to attack--Linspire. That distro, for some stupid reason, gives every user root permissions.

 

I dont doubt that it would be difficult. but the fact remains that if people WANT to write a virus for linux (and have the ability) they WILL find a way. virii may not be as extensive as those in windows, but they can be created. no software is bulletproof. unless you remove all media drives, lock down usb ports, etc, and have the machine standalone.

 

My earlier post was written with statment in mind. It's simply completely untrue. Anyone who understands how Linux works, how it is set up, would never even think of making such a statement.

Sure viruses can be created, but that doesn't mean they have the same chances of being effectively distributed as Windows viruses do. It's a much more difficult proposition to make a Linux virus spread.

That has a whole lot to do with why you don't see Linux viruses in the wild. Why spend the time to do that when you can spend the same amount of time and get something that the OS itself will help spread? That's the real reason Windows is attacked so often. A little effort gets a lot of return, not just because there are lots of Windows machines, but because Windows itself helps spread the destruction. Windows actually leverages the effort used to attack it. Linux doesn't do that, and that's not going to change even if there are the same number of Linux machines as there are Windows machines.

I fear you have bought into the Microsoft marketing machine's propoganda. Linux isn't as insecure as Windows and it will not spread virii like Windows does.

 

It makes me laugh that Microsoft with all their resources can't get viruses under control and secure their OS's better and on the flipside an OS like Linux that is open source can can...

 

Interesting discussion, gang. I seem to remember reading something recently about McAfee developing an antivirus program for Linux. I *think* it was meant to run on the Linux desktop to protect the individual machine rather than on a mail server. I can't swear to that last part. Given the statements already made in this thread, I wonder how much differently it is engineered than antivirus software written to protect a Windows machine?

 

Maybe I have my cynical hat on here, but does that not just smack of milking a commercial open-source cow here ? There's little doubt of the secure-ness of the various Linux distros (I stress I do not speak from experience, simply from reading around the subject). So for the major AV makers to roll up and offer to secure your distro is surely a pitch at the ever-increasing number (just look around here, after all) of "came-from-a-Windows-background" converts and dabblers looking to either get away from, or expand their knowledge outwith the Windows environment, where AV is clearly a necessity before you even open a COM port ?

 

Good thread going here guys

I did a fair bit of hunting around when i made the change over to Ubuntu. The end result was AV is only needed on Linux servers to protect anything being passed to a Windows machine.

If you speak to Mac users (Unix based) they laugh when you meniton AV.

 

The big issue at the moment is not viruses it is malware.

Use FF or Opera instead of IE and you will eliminate virtually all malware threats.

Switch off the preview pane in Outlook and Outlook express, why Microsoft switch it on by default I don't no, it's baffling . Be sensible and don't open suspicious looking emails.

I run four windows boxes at home and I am forever on the Internet and I haven't had a virus for over six years. All the viruses I see are on neglected machines, no critical updates, no AV software etc.

Mac's can get viruses but as nobody sends Mac users emails they tend not to proliferate

From what I have seen of Linux, it is good but Windows 2000 Pro is better.

 

Hope you've got your Bullet Proof Vest on Pete!

 

That's because no matter how much you patch a bad design, it's still a bad design. Windows was created to be a single-user system with that single user being given access to all parts of the OS. Then, to gain a competetive advantage in the market place against their competitors MS tied their browser so deeply into the OS that it can't be taken back out again. They then compounded those decisions by using things like ActiveX in the browser and tieing the email clients and office suites to IE. The upshot of all these things is that attackers have a clean shot at the guts of the OS from a lot of different angles. Windows was designed with no thought toward security. Linux was designed with much thought given toward security.

To their credit they are finally beginning to take security a little more seriously, but they are greatly handicapped by all their previous decisions concerning their OS and software. To really be as secure an OS as Linux they basically just about have to start over.

 

You hit the nail on the head there, Gav. That's all it is from everything I've seen and read. Even the most knowledgeable guys in the antivirus community that say a virus/worm can be made never explain how it is going to go about propagating itself or getting itself into the system to begin with. The only successful Linux virus that I know of was planted in a software download that many people installed, and since the software needed root access to install it installed the virus with root access.

 

*Stands back and waits for the fireworks to begin*


Only ever used windows or Solaris at work (hate it) but only because iam so used to the GUI of windows

tried downloading a few linux distros but couldnt see any speed improvements liek everybody says there is

downloaded Ubuntu so might give that a go only reason i seem to stay away is that it might sidetrack me from my windows studies even more

 

So even companies using Linux as clients don't use antivirus software. Maybe coming from a windows background that would make me nervous to say the least.