I just Ubuntu, and even though its not on the net yet, what kind of things should I worry about?

How susceptable is Ubuntu to viruses, spyware, hackers, ect?


Does it have a built in firewall?

Phishers, spammers, and other types of social engineering.

No more susceptible than any other Linux distribution which means that you don't have to worry about people using technical methods to hack your system. A hacker pretty much has to have your (presumably unwitting) cooperation in order to install malware or get confidential information from you on a Linux distribution.


Most distributions don't because they are unnecessary to protect a Linux system. Linux servers often use firewalls to filter out Windows oriented malware. I don't think that Ubuntu installs a firewall by default but it may have an optional firewall available. Take a look at firestarter.

http://linux.about.com/od/ubuntu_doc/a/ubudg26t4.htm

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Steve Stites

Until the Linux Desktop gains enough market share for it to start being targeted more by professional attackers. While the linux filesystems and the user level security that is in place by default is quite a bit more robust than that of Windows operating systems, it's not impenetrable by any means. Don't get a false sense of security; you should still be mindful of your systems internals at all times.


iptables is included in all 2.4.x and 2.6.x kernel releases by default.

Simple firewall for Ubuntu using iptables

so its pretty safe to assume for the things I use my computer for, net-browsing, games, ect, I really wont have anything to worry about, malware wise?

It would be completely insane to assume that. You should ALWAYS be concerned about malware, regardless of what generic operating system you are using. Yes, the malware threat level for GNU/Linux users is usually much lower than for Windows users, but that doesn't in any way shape or form mean you don't have "anything to worry about". As an example, have a look at the last few rounds of security vulnerabilities found for Mozilla Firefox. A great deal of them affected the GNU/Linux Firefox version, and as such many of us would have been susceptible to malware exploiting any of them had we not taken additional precautions such as installing NoScript (or whatever).

This is interesting. Technically I could perhaps be classified a dweeb. I have been running Mandrake 10.1 for years without a problem. BrightHouse claims their cable modem has a firewall and Belkin says my router does.

At least I know better than to reply to most emails from ''Paypal''.

While in the ISP thread I have said some unflattering things about BrightHouse and RoadRunner, they do a great job of stopping spam.