Hello! Sorry maybe for this beginners-question: do I need dedicated anti-virus / anti-malware software for my Linux System?

I’m not using my laptop for anything shady: no filesharing, no pirating, etc. Just the usual boring bit of work or streaming or surfing the web. Do I need dedicated safety measures? Like ClamAV for example? I read a bit about it but there where mixed messages, where people said it’s not needed.

I’m running Linux Mint and Cinnamon on a laptop since a few months and couldn’t be happier with an operating system. Everything works fine and until now I had no trouble at all (besides this little annoying bug, where my touchpad gets randomly set to “deactivated”, but this really is a minor issue and maybe just a “stupid user”-Problem).

Before I suffered through decades of windows. But no more!

  • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    401·
    6 months ago

    My understanding is that no amount of anti-virus software replaces common sense. As long as you’re not downloading sketchy programs and giving them permission to run, you’re pretty well set.

    Some people might tell you that there’s no viruses on Linux, but that isn’t exactly true. Linux has something like 2% of the desktop market, which makes it less attractive to develop malware for - but 2% of a few billion computers is still millions of potential targets. Not to mention that Linux dominates the server market, and arguably that’s where malware is more valuable. To think that there’s no malware targeting Linux is naive.

    Many anti-virus suites are effectively malware though. If you decide you do need AV software make sure to do your research before installing any.

    Anyway, long story, I don’t personally use an anti-virus, and for your stated uses I’m not sure I’d recommend one.

    If you’re mostly using it as a web browser then I would definitely recommend a solid ad blocker. UBlock Origin is free, highly esteemed, and can be installed as an extension to whatever browser you’re currently using.

    • moinmoin1OP
      15·
      6 months ago

      Thanks for your answer! Ublock Origin is a given in all my browsers. Web is not usable any more without.

      • Preflight_Tomato@lemm.eeEnglish
        7·
        6 months ago

        I read recently that ~90% lots of malware comes through ads, so it’s a really great security help as well.

          • Preflight_Tomato@lemm.eeEnglish
            2·
            6 months ago

            I read it from a Lemmy user who said they ran a business network and that’s the distribution they saw.

            Thanks for questioning that. I couldn’t find a wider trend number and it was a bit irresponsible of me to repeat it assuming it applied everywhere.