On Tue, 2004-12-28 at 12:51, Appeet wrote: > Hello everyone, > > I am back. > > Coming from the windows world, the first thing I get > for my computer is an antivirus software. So my > question is - Are there any good opensource freeware > :) anti virus programs! (Or) Do we even need one on > linux! :) > > Thanks, For Linux systems antivirus is not as important as it is under windows. But depending on what you use your system for you may want to run things like chkrootkit and tripwire. chkrootkit examines your system looking for indications that it may have been compromised. Tripwire takes a snapshot of the files on your system and compares current files to the snapshot. If someone has compromised your system tripwire will report those changes to you. Also learn how to use iptables and get your system locked down. Turn off services that you don't need or use and only open ports up for things that you do use. And if you are on cable or DSL put a dedicated firewall between your cable/DSL modem and your home network. This can be a linux box that has been hardened and used iptables or if you just want something that works and is cheap and will require little or no administration once it is setup get a netgear or linksys cable/DSL router firewall. The firewall alone will eliminate most vectors used by hackers to break systems. And if you are running iptables on your system you have a second layer of defense. Just make sure it is setup correctly. Things like chkrootkit and tripwire are intrusion detection tools and will alert you if someone has tampered with your system. You can also use things like snort that will monitor network traffic looking for suspicious traffic. This is good for companies to actively monitor for attacks but may be more than most people need on their private networks. If you are supporting windows clients and using a linux box as their email server you can use clamav and similar type programs to scan for windows type viruses. Good luck. -- Scot L. Harris webid@xxxxxxxxxx It's great to be smart 'cause then you know stuff.
