Security?

scratched · 03-26-2006, 11:43 AM

I'm new to linux (just got ubuntu 5.10 installed friday) and I know that it is more secure out of the box than windows in a lot of ways, but I was wondering...

Should I consider installing firewall and virus scan software on my linux box?

I'm not too paranoid about security and I don't usually download anything mysterious/questionable, but I'd also like to be relatively safe from hacker attacks & such.

Could someone possibly tell me how open to the internet linux is (like... are ports left open by default, etc.)?

rconan · 03-26-2006, 12:08 PM

AFAIK Ubuntu has a firewall preinstalled called iptables. this basically only accepts incoming packets which are responding to those which you sent.

Antivirus is relatively unecessarry on a linux box as there arent really any viruses for linux.
You can get AV for linux but it is generally for applications like mail servers where files destined for windows boxes pass through a linux box.