Ubuntu Security

Do You Need An AV On Ubuntu?

In Ubuntu you do not need to worry about many of the threats you would have to worry about on Windows, but there are a few exploits geared towards users of Ubuntu. In order to be the safest you can I recommend you install ClamAV, and open source anti-virus for Ubuntu that detects malware on all platforms so you can scan Windows devices or removable storage meant for a Windows computer.

How Do I Install It?

To install ClamAV, and its GUI ClamTK, open up Terminal and type,

sudo apt-get install clamav clamtk

This installs the actual anti-virus program and its GUI. Now you have a working anti-virus that is completely free and won't keep bugging you about your service being expired :).

Using ClamAV

To use ClamAV, click the Ubuntu icon and type ClamTK into the search bar and click the icon. It will pull up the GUI for ClamAV. To scan a directory just drag and drop the file/folder into the little white box on the bottom of the window. If you want to browse for the file/folder press Control+R and a window will pop up.

When you scanned the directory and viruses will show up in the list and you can either Quarantine(move somewhere safe) or Delete them. I recommend you delete it unless you have an important file that was infected. If there was no malware detected then you will just get a little notification at the bottom of the window showing files scanned. Keep in mind a true Ubuntu virus is VERY rare so the majority of malware you will find will not even affect your system at all.

What About A Firewall?

Ubuntu comes pre-configured with a firewall called Uncomplicated Firewall that gets the job done. If you are curious about using another firewall I will be making a post detailing command-line firewalls like iptables and a post on GUI configuration of Ubuntu's UFW that is bundled with it.