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How do you check for an infected Ubuntu system?

Go to solution Solved by OldTweaker,

The market share of Linux on the desktop is small. The thing is that Linux tends to fix vulnerabilities and its strict separation of what root can do versus what a normal user can do makes it much harder to get malware on a system.

It does make sense to scan, but running permanent scanners on anything that enters a system (like in anti-virus scanners in Windows) is not required.

Scanning options:

 

 

I'm not a security expert so there may be more, but these are the ones I like. Especially Lynis, which gets updated quite often

So when i had windows even though i knew i wasn't clicking on random stuff i liked to scan my drives from time to time to check for anything malicious.
I daily drive Ubuntu now and i'm wondering how i check if my OS is alright?

I have no visible reason at the moment to suspect anything but i just want to know if there's something i can use to check up on my system without reinstalling the OS like once a week.

I do install some .deb files from popular software that i run the website through virus total beforehand so i just want to know a way of checking for anything bad as i'm still new to Linux.

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14 minutes ago, IR76 said:

I daily drive Ubuntu now and i'm wondering how i check if my OS is alright?

There is nothing to scan on linux. You dont need any malware/virus protection on linux as you do for windows.

 

If you really curious and want to do scan then there is clamAV.

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Just now, C2dan88 said:

There is nothing to scan on linux. You dont need any malware/virus protection on linux as you do for windows.

 

If you really curious and want to do scan then there is clamAV.

Alright thank you. I look up about that cheers.

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21 minutes ago, C2dan88 said:

There is nothing to scan on linux. You dont need any malware/virus protection on linux as you do for windows.

this is such a horribly flawed statement.. you're sort of right because the market share of linux users is very small, so the market share for linux malware is very small, but that doesnt mean that it doesnt exist and the risk isn tthere.

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The market share of Linux on the desktop is small. The thing is that Linux tends to fix vulnerabilities and its strict separation of what root can do versus what a normal user can do makes it much harder to get malware on a system.

It does make sense to scan, but running permanent scanners on anything that enters a system (like in anti-virus scanners in Windows) is not required.

Scanning options:

 

 

I'm not a security expert so there may be more, but these are the ones I like. Especially Lynis, which gets updated quite often

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If we assume that there are no malware /viruses for linux because it is unlikely, is there a way to scan for those that could affect windows? Because, even though they cannot run on a linux machine, it is not unusual for a linux machine to work together with other - possibly windows computers, or with home servers etc. How to be sure that linux machine doesn't unknowingly spread infected files to those that might suffer from that even though they do not impact the host system itself?

 

Example 1: What if I transfer an infected file unknowingly from my computer over the usb flash drive to my friends windows computer?

Example 2: What if I store the infected file on my local NAS  that is connected to 4 other windows computers?

 

If I recall well, Avast had a version that run on Linux, but I haven't seen that in awhile. Though to be fair, I wasn't really looking.

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Also consider the fact that people running Linux on their home setups are also likely to run Wine - that may also serve as a gateway for certain infections.

 

I am by no means a Linux expert and definitely not a security one so can't give any direct suggestions on AV soft, but saying "Linux does not have malware" is like saying the same about MacOS. Less common yes but you should definitely not rely on that rarity alone.

 

Meanwhile just don't put random stuff into your terminal, check if the apps you install are legit, and have complex passwords for everything. User negligence is usually more dangerous than malware itself 😁

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