Elementary security issues: hopefully useful to all
 

Although I'm not a newbie, I'm posting in the newbie forum because I've just upgraded from dial-up to broadband. So I might as well be a newbie!

The questions, though, will be of interest to every Linux user who goes online as they address some core safety issues.

1. Linux is a lot safer than Windows - but does that mean there's no need for anti-virus software? If not, what should I use?

2. As a dual-booter, is my Vista partition safe when I go online in Linux? I use Fuse 3G to access my Windows partition from Linux (it's mounted permanently for my convenience) and am concerned that a virus not harmful to Linux but harmful to Windows might sneak through and infect the "other" OS.

3. Until now, on dial-up, I have been happy enough to use Firestarter as my firewall. But Firestarter requires root login before it operates. How can this be safe? Going online as root? Is there a non-root alternative?

4. Is there any sort of utility that can tell me - say at the bottom of the screen - what the connection/download speed is?

Thanks for your help in advance.

clam-av, f-prot (one OpenSource, the other proprietary but free
for non-commercial use). While Linux itself is pretty much at
no risk it can serve as a stepping stone.

See above. While malicious windows things you d/l can't be
executed in Linux (unless you try really hard to get a virus
to work with wine [or CrossOver office for Office macro viruses])
you can save infected stuff and then run it from Vista manually.
And while there's few viruses for Linux - if you managed to get
yourself "rooted" the intruder can still do whatever they please
to your vista partition.

Just start it from rc.local (or your distro's equivalent).


Dunno ...



Cheers,
Tink

to question no. 4: download speed...

you could use superkaramba (display of widgets/gadgets/desklets, however you want to call them) and inside superkaramba try glass-monitor. you find it on www.kde-apps.org. glass-monitor is able to display statistics on eth0, wlan0 etc., also information about your system as e.g., cpu stuff, partition size et.

Thanks, Tinkster.

I really needed to know that. I've got clamAV up and running now, but is there any way of scanning the entire system at once instead of going directory by directory?

And do you know of any alternatives to Firestarter?

Cheers.

clamscan -r /
should do the trick.

Heaps of them ... go to http://freshmeat.net and search for
iptables. I tend to use a script generated by "Easy Firewall
Generater" as the basis for my iptables needs (with some
manual tweaking around the squid proxy).




Cheers,
Tink