Does spyware affect linux? I mean, what steps should a newbie take to be safe from things like spyware on linux?

I've been searching and trying to read abit on linux security but I'm not sure which things are the best for paranoid home users. Most of the info is quite good, but makes my head spin. Perhaps if someone could tell me the following questions in layman's terms, I can learn a bit more.

Im currently trying fedora 3
1. Which firewall is best?
2. What intrusion detection software should one use (if its not included in the firewall)
3. Should I get an anti-virus or anti-spyware program? if so, which one?
4. Is there a decent encryption program with GUI (i am still getting comfortable with command line programs)? which is best for linux users and will it be compatible with windows?
5. Which browser is safer?
6. How does one use a proxy, and are they really "anonymous" or safe?

Ok, I have more questions, but I'll have to ask those later. first I should get a hang on these as my later questions may be more difficult for my current level.

1. all the firewalls use iptables and this is built into the kernel so if fedora came with a utility to configure the firewall this will work as good as anything else

2.Snort is good also check out tripwire

3. Not unless you are running a mail server that serves windows clients and you want to protect them. any spyware and viruses for linux require you to knowingly install them as root.

4. gpg is pgp compatible

5. in my opinion all the mozilla based browsers (almost every browser for linux) is about the same.

6. it depends. how to use them depends on the distro. and how anonymous they are depends on the proxy some of them don't even change your ip.

Not that i've seen, spyware is not an issue. I use firefox as my browser on most all of my machines however i do like icab for osX.

as for firewall, i like smoothwall, it requires an old dedicated machine though but for my lan thats what i use. Snort is included with smoothwall for ids otherwise google snort install guide, there are a few good step by steps out there. if you cannot find, email me and i will email you one.

i dont use any antivirus on my linux boxes, bsd boxes or my osX machines and havent had a problem yet, I'm sure it will become an issue someday.

annoy proxies work by browsing to their site then browsing through them instead of directly, also you can gain anoniminity by chaining them together check http://anonbrowse.cjb.net

HTH

pjbii

oh yeah, smoothwall link in case you are interested

http://www.smoothwall.org

pjbii

Firestarter is also a good alternative for GNOME.

great.

So are iptable based firewalls better than firewalls where apps ask permission to access internet etc.

I'm taking a look at the smoothwall website now. I'm hoping to find a firewall or intrusion detection software that can notify me if or when someone is trying to access my computer so I can shut down the internet connection quickly or deny their activity.

Also, I was wondering how often linux firewalls need to be updated, it seems for windows, norton's firewall has quite a number of updates very often...

here, check this out

http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start...c3.pdf&e=10313

this is a killer guide that walks you through step by step

http://www.ntsug.org/docs/snort_base_fc3.pdf

this link is better i think