As we already know, Linux is immune to viruses and other nasty malware. However, there are still a lot of other reasons to install an antivirus program on your Linux computer.
Reasons include:
- You have a dual-boot computer (Windows/Ubuntu) and you want to scan Windows drives,
- You have Windows computers on your network, which you want to scan,
- You are operating an e-mail gateway with Linux and want to check incoming/outgoing e-mails,
- You want to scan Windows drives/shares etc.,
- You are exchanging files with Windows users and you don’t want to pass on potentially infected files,
- You are sending/forwarding e-mails to Windows users and you don’t want them to get infected with the attachments.
A few years ago users didnt have many options in terms of antivirus software, ClamAV and AVG thought to be the only ones. However, these days there are many antivirus software providers in the market, which offers the user better pricing and also better protection.
Avest! Linux Home Edition
avast! is offered as a free download for the Linux platform for personal and non-commercial use. The antivirus kernel is exactly the same as the antivirus kernel for avast! for theWindows platform , so the users will receive the same updates. The update frequency is twice or thrice per week regularly but it becomes more frequent during the malware breakout times. The user interface is very intuitive so I’d not expect a steep learning curve with the program. You can scan all of your drives, selected files/folders, quarantine items, store them in virus chest and send them to avast! labs for further analysis. There is also a command-line utility for experienced users.
avast! can scan almost all compressed archives except MAPI, CAB, ACE, CHM, 7ZIP and NTFS-streams. Additionally, it can also scan executable package formats. Since the Linux version of the program shares the same antivirus kernel with the Windows version, it is not likely that you will have any problems with the other file formats, such as Microsoft Office, PDF etc..
AVG
In comparison with avast!, AVG offers basic protection for Linux users for private and non-commercial use. In the download page, AVG explicitly states that the Linux version is limited and there is no support provided. Given myprevious experience with AVG and the limited version, I am reluctant to recommend the program for any user.
ClamAV
ClamAV is oriented towards e-mail scanning on mail gateways rather than performing scans on the drives and/or networks. ClamAV is released under GNU/GPL V.2 so there is virtually no restriction for its use. It can scan many file formats, including compressed files (SFX files included), Microsoft’s CAB files, CHM files, HTML, PDF, RTF, Microsoft Office macro viruses, trojans, worms and even mobile viruses. It supports almost all e-mail formats, making it an ideal tool to install in the mail gateways.
F-Prot Antivirus
F-Prot is oriented towards the UNIX and Linux servers, but this does not mean that it cannot be used for personal computers. Instead, it is offered for download for both personal Linux computers and workstations. F-Prot can scan incoming e-mails (it integrates to the existing Sendmail, Postfix and Qmail installations), can scan hard disks and removable drives with the ability to scan compressed files and includes an on-access scanner and a filesystem monitor.
AVG 9 is nearly here! AVG 9 antivirus is coming on October the 15th with great enhancements such as speed, performance and it also minimizes the impact on your system resources.
The new AVG is install process has been streamlined, with developers reducing the number of tedious, finger-numbing mouse clicks from 22 to 11.
Grisoft says scanning speeds have been increased by as much as 50% and that version 9 also reduces Windows boot lag by 10 to 15%. The firewall is more intuitive and has been made less intrusive — another small but welcome change.
The paid versions are available now through the AVG web site, and we’ve been told that the much-loved free version will be good to go in ten days.
If you’re a believer in free antivirus, your preferred version will be up for grabs on October 15th. Keep your browser tuned to free.avg.com — that’s where the download will appear when it goes live.
Microsoft has been working for a long time now in giving a good and reliable antivirus platform for all users. And when I say “for all users” I mean a free one. Seems that the dream is about to become true today: Microsoft Security Essentials will be release to the public as the free antivirus solution from Microsoft.
Microsoft Security Essentials will be replacing Windows Live OneCare as the security suite for viruses and malware. The suite can be installed in Windows XP, Vista and 7; and seems that already has a good review about the protection you can achieve, by giving you a shield for 97,8% of the existing malware in the web.
On the other side, some of the other reviews this antivirus platform has received so far say that the engine inside it is a little bit slow and intrusive with other applications.
And of course, leaders from other security solutions already are trying to tear this solution down, like McAfee: “will compete against other free solutions by offering limited security functionality”; or Symantec saying it is a “thin defense” and not giving you any type of antispam or identity safeguards.
Let people decide then.
As we announced earlier, WordPress released their new version: 2.8, that has big performance improvements. Even though this feature isn’t brand new, it is a nice option that you can give it a try: Wordpress Antivirus Plug-In.
The plug-in has a new version, 0.4, that appeared a few days back and it already includes compatibility with the latest WordPress version.
So what exactly a blog antivirus can do? You may ask. Well, this plug-in can help you out on monitoring possible platform vulnerabilities, virus injections, malicious links inserted, etc. Includes also features like email notifications and whitelisting.
The installation process it’s the same as every WordPress plug-in:
1.Download AntiVirus plugin
2.Unzip the archive
3.Upload the folder antivirus into ./wp-content/plugins/
4.Go to tab Plugins
5.Activate AntiVirus
6.Edit settings
7.Ready
WordPress users and webmasters always find the need to keep a good eye on the deployed platform in case any vulnerability appears and, if that happens, just pray for a quick hotfix. It’s nice to have a quick option that can help you be more proactive about the health of your deployments.
Everything seems to be moving to the cloud these days and this new antivirus software is no exception, welcome to Panda Cloud. Panda Cloud is currently in beta and is developed by Panda Security a leading security applications developer.
This lightweight antivirus application caters to your system without having to take up half of your PC resources. Panda Cloud Antivirus is based on cloud computing, and is only partially installed on your computer and keeps core files on a dedicated server on the Internet.
One of the key features of this antivirus software is that you don’t have to manually update it. Complicated configurations and having to download new signature files is pretty much a thing of the past this Panda Cloud Antivirus. However, this doesn’t mean you remain unprotected when disconnected from the network: this antivirus app features a local cache that keeps the program up and running, continuously working at 100%.
The interface is also very well designed and aesthetically pleasing.
Panda Cloud Antivirus was designed of Windows XP and Windows Vista, with Windows 7 support in the near future.
Currently the only downside is that it cant run automatic scans and the filters arent really up to speed, but im sure this will be included in the next release once out of beta.
