I need a good antivirus/firewall program.

[Silve]

I am running Ubuntu 7.04. The only virus scanner I have now is aegis-virus-scanner. It finds stuff, but it seems too simple. Firestarter doesn't work for some reason. Is there anything for Linux (free or cheap) that resembles Norton or Webroot? Thank you!

[Juan Pablo]

You don't need an antivirus in Linux, most Linux antivirus detect Windows viruses in order to prevent spreading but it's not really needed. If you really want something try ClamAV with any GUI you can find, it's hard to configure anyway.

We can help you with the firewall but we need the exact error message. Firestarter may seem simple but it's backend is the industrial-strenght IPtables

[Silve]

Firestarter error message:

"Failed to start the firewall
The device eth0 is not ready.
Please check your network device settings and make sure your Internet connection is active."

My wireless internet is working, and the only choices Firestarter gives me are eth0 and eth1, neither of which work. I googled this message and could not find a solution.

[the bassinvader]

For a general start to security check this out

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...-security.html


I understand your desire for an antivirus because i was exactly the same when i started with Linux but this isn't Windows. The best thing you can do to secure your box is to learn about Linux security. Knowledge is power and in the case of security is far more powerful than any antivirus programs. There are lots of tools for layered security but it has a different approach to that you've been used to.

[Juan Pablo]

Can you check the console output too please? Launch firestarter from the command line
sudo firestarter

[Silve]

silve@NafusLap:~$ sudo firestarter
External network device eth0 is not ready. Aborting..

[g.ivannov]

I dont trust firestarter; it often crashes on startup and many people reported the same problem. On the firestarter site, they know the problem and give instructions to solve it, but these instructions are complicated and compromising for the security of the system. (they know it as well but they prefere the convenience)

From their site Frequently asked questions (FAQ) - Firestarter

This method makes a trade off in local security for convenience. If your user account becomes compromised the attacker will be able to control the firewall. However this method is preferable to having a shared root user password in a multiuser setting. It is also preferable if the alternative is not to run Firestarter at all.

Use another firewall instead. If you want to use only gnome applications with your system you can use gnome-lokkit. If you use kde applications also, then you can use guarddog (it's better) There are other firewalls too: fw-builder, shorewall (no-gui AFAIK), rc.firewall, picofirewall etc

You dont need an antivirus but it is good to install an antispyware. Install rkhunter and make a customized launcher with command: sudo rkhunter -c
and tick the case: run in a terminal.

[Agent-X]

Are you making viruses or trojans to mess with Linux?
I'm just curious. Nothing wrong with checking out a system's security.

[Juan Pablo]

I didn't know about the security issue, but Firestarter is not the firewall itself, is just a frontend to IPtables, Guarddog too