Yes. Don’t.

Do you have any antivirus recomendations for Linux.

Install all applications from your package manager.

Don’t run things as root.

Don’t visit sketchy websites.

Run an ad-blocker that isn’t owned by an advertising company.

There are anti viruses that run on GNU/Linux like ClamAv and kaspersky but they actually do not target the machine they run on or at least they are not so useful. Their intention is to stop the spread of malware.

In general, you just need to install softwaref uaong the package manager from trusted sources that are usually the defaults of your distribution and not input your password when you are not expecting it.

When copying commands to the terminal, most terminals will warn you if you are copying a command that requires root privileges.

That said for the operating system, apply it to the browser as well by being eclectic on what extensions you install and voila. 99.99% guaranteed malware free.

Most antivirus software are just root level tools to harvest your data, that pretend to help

At first: In most cases you don’t need and don’t want one.

I wanted to get one as I have several old (over two decades and more) Windows game CDs that I’ve bought long before switching to Linux. Back in the days it was actually a thing that sometimes malware slipped into professionally pressed CDs (especially on discs that came with PC game magazines or cheap game collection boxes).

For this case (Windows software check before attempting to run with wine) I can recommend ClamAV. It is open source and available on probably every distribution. But there is no need to attempt having it running all the time. I just run scans from the terminal whenever needed.

Common sense. ClamAV exists, but I have no idea if it’s worth it

Unless you are in a cooperate environment or very careless with the stuff you download and commands you run you shouldn’t need one!

1. Do not run a root account for regular stuff. This is a lot less common now since most distros require you to create a non-root account during install and a lot of the systems annoy you if you’re running as root, but you’d be surprised by the sheer number of people who use accounts with UID 0 daily. This may also be caused by “”“more experienced”“” friends/family setting it up that way to try cutting corners regarding access rights, but the bottom line is: don’t be that person. Use root when necessary only.

2. Get into the habit of not blindly running every command you see online or trying every trick you read/hear, at least not on your main system. Try to setup a VM (or multiple) for the purpose of trying stuff out or running something you’re not sure what the impact might be.

3. Keep your system updated, from kernel to userland.

4. Get into the habit of reading news regarding exploits, malware and the responses for them. You don’t need to become an infosec professional or even understand what they actually do. What is important is for you to learn what to avoid and when something really bad is discovered so you can update as soon as possible.

These 4 steps are arguably more important and create better results than any anti-virus could ever hope to do for you. They won’t ever get to 100% security, but then again, nothing will.

I’ve been running Linux for 20 years. Not once have I been in a situation that required an antivirus. The one time I’ve had a security breach it was not a virus but user error that left a door open. And even then, it was just ransomware, not a virus.

Currently I don’t like any of the common AV solutions, ClamAV is the best we have and has great signature based antivirus, with many excellent third party virus signatures (I even use it on windows). however ClamAV has no heuristic based capabilities which means it’s lacking quite a bit in that regard.

I really wish we had a decent hurestics based AV solution oriented to consumers but afaik none really exist that are any good.

Common Sense Antivirus™ is breddy gucci.

Yes, no antivirus. You don’t need it. There are no viruses. Plus, the way Linux is setup it’s not easy for a virus to do alot of damage.

Use common sense and dont install random shady shit from the internet.

Best antivrius in the world

I wouldn’t recommend using anti-virus software. It usually creates a lot more overhead, plus it usually mimics existing solutions already in linux. The only viruses I have ever caught using an anti-virus software on Linux are the test viruses to see if all is working fine.

Anyway, here’s my 20+ enterprise experience recommendations with Linux :

• enable secure boot: will disable launching non-signed kernel modules (prevent root kits)
• enable firewall: and only allow ports you really need.
• SELinux: it is getting better, and it will prevent processes to access resources out of their scope. It can be problematic if you don’t know it (and it is complex to understand). But if it doesn’t hinder you, don’t touch it. I do not know AppArmor, but it is supposed to be similar.
• disable root over ssh: or only allow ssh keys, or disable ssh altogether if you do not need it.
• avoid using root: make sure you have a personal account set up with sudo rights to root WITH password.
• only use trusted software: package managers like apt and rpm tend to have built in functionality to check the state and status of your installed software. Use trusted software repositories only. Often recommended by the distro maintainers. Stay away from use this script scripts unless you can read them and determine if they’re the real thing.

Adhering to these principles will get you a long way!

edit: added section about software sources courtesy of @dragnucs@lemmy.ml

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