firewall for linux?
 

hi,
i am new to linux and am trying to switch to linux :newbie:
i have heard that it is secure etc etc
so i was wondering that do i need a firewall or an antivirus prog for linux?:scratch:

thanks...

I use both firewall and antivirus. Bascially the firewall is already built in to linux. It's called IPTables. You can use a graphical configuration tool like Guarddog or Firestarter to set it up the way you want.

I use clamAV for antivirus. It scans my files for Windows viruses so I don't pass them on to friends or family. The virus protection isn't really for my linux machine because there's very few (and no effective) viruses written to infect linux computers. It's just to avoid being a carrier of Windows viruses.

When my DSL modem arrived there was already a Firewall running set by my provider ,But I as a user can change it according to own wishes Second indeed Linux has a firewall to.Some people said do not use to firewall because it can give problems.
Second I run a virus scanner for my linux distros just to be sure and also for my windows XP


all the best

thanks for the info

Antivirus is a waste of CPU power. Even on Windows it's no more than maybe 60% effective, so it hardly makes you safe. On Linux, as far as I know the antivirus scans only actually scan for windows viruses -- they're just for mail servers relaying to windows. So if you're not running a mail server it's doing absolutely nothing.

Just be sure you keep your packages up to date so that you're applying any security fixes reasonably quickly, and there's nothing to worry about.

In a default configuration no firewall is needed, but it's always possilbe that some program will open up a vulerability, so a hardware firewall (as in a DSL modem) is a good extra layer of protection. A software firewall may be less effective but it'd help too.

If you are going to be connected to the net I would strongly advise setting up your firewall. Most distros will come with iptables turned on (firewalled) by default. You do need to tune it for your specific needs. Running without a firewall is asking for trouble. You can run over to sites like sheilds up (https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2) to see how exposed you are to the net.

While installing a virus scanner is not necessary right now, it will be at some point. ClamAV is pretty good but rather than install it I just run over to trend micro's site once a month (or once a few months) and sweep the entire system. You will be amazed at the number of windows viri(harmless on linux) one picks up.