I am a complete noob to linux. And I have installed ubuntu on my laptop.  My concern is Security. A lot of sources online say I don't need any anivirus software, can someone explain why this is? I relaise people dont make as much linux malware but is this enough of a reason?  If I should get something what should I get?  Also is it worth to get a sandboxed browser or a fully fledged VM for surfing (this can include going)  Finally should I uninstall windows 7 (dual booting via partition) and no longer use it (is it a sfatey concern?) I was only going to keep it for emergencies
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I thought that there was no need to scan for viruses either in Ubuntu or any Linux distros until I found virus scanner packages clamtk and klamav in Ubuntu software center yesterday.  This leads to the following questions:   How do viruses differ between Linux and Windows? How do the strategies for protection differ between Linux and Windows? Should a virus scanner package be installed on my system? If so, which would be a better option?
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At  there is this "only in ubuntu" that says "Built in virus protection":  What is the Ubuntu built it protection? What is the program in charge of this and how does it work?
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I've often come across posts on forums or other websites where you see people joking in such a manner about running/logging in as root as if it's something awful and everyone ought to know about it. However, there isn't much that a search reveals on the matter. It maybe widely known to Linux experts, but I really don't know why. I remember always running as root when I first tried Linux years ago (Redhat and Mandrake) and don't remember running into any problems because of that. There are actually some distros that have a bright red background with alert signs all over it as wallpaper for the root user (Suse?). I still use the "Administrator" account for regular use on my Windows installation and haven't ever run into any problems either.
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I would like to install Ubuntu on my Windows 7 64-bit PC to do analysis of astronomy data. The data files are often large (can be few hundred MB, possibly a GB). The data files may be located on an external hard disk. The PC has 6 GB RAM and 670 GB hard disk.   I'm trying to decide whether to do a proper dual-boot, installing Ubuntu in its own partition (I'm nervous of messing around with the hard disk, have never done it before) or to run Ubuntu using VirtualBox in Windows. How much slower is running in Virtualbox likely to be?   If I do go for a traditional dual-boot, would it make sense to divide the hard disk more or less equally between the two OSs?  I would be very grateful for some advice.  Many thanks Kevin
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What should I do if my Windows computer seems to be infected with a virus or malware?  What are the symptoms of an infection? What should I do after noticing an infection? What can I do to get rid of it? how to prevent from infection by malware?   This question comes up frequently, and the suggested solutions are usually the same. This community wiki is an attempt to serve as the definitive, most comprehensive answer possible. Feel free to add your contributions via edits.
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I am buying a new desktop PC in early 2013, anyway this question should apply to someone intending to buy a new laptop/ultrabook as well.  This machine is not meant for gaming, and if I ocasionally do it, I can survive with minimum graphics. However I may need some heavy multimedia edition or multitasking at times, so basically  my greatest priority is a good processor, after that perhaps average graphic card (if onboards are not enough, I am still not informed enough about that), at least 4GB of RAM with possibility of expansion.  I know there are some PC models specially designed to ship with Ubuntu, which is the OS I use the most these days. However, most people around me use Windows and some software with unsupported versions for Linux and not having a Windows license becomes a bit problematic.  Given that, I would like to find information about which PC models or even manufacters currently on the market have the best compatibility with Ubuntu, I am still undecided between building my own desktop or buying a pre-made model, so I would like to find information both for certified models and certified hardware or even Ubuntu partners that may work closely with Canonical.  Where to find this information in order to make sure that I will have a good experience with Ubuntu on my new PC in the years to come?
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I'm sorry if this isn't the place to ask this, but there doesn't seem to be a web security stack exchange site, so this looks like the closest thing to me. If there's a better place to put this question please let me know.  I'm using Firefox on Ubuntu and I accidentally clicked an ad that took me to an obvious scam site. There's no changed behavior on my computer, but just to be safe I'd like to know what you should do after visiting an unsafe site. Thanks
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I wonder if someone can help me? I am fairly new to trying to actually understand and use computers myself rather than just buying whatever Windows/Mac wants me to! You will get a giggle from my flawed attempts anyway :-)  I would like to start using Ubuntu on my PC, just got a new harddrive and did have a borrowed windows 7 disk as was planning to temporarily install it so i could get ubuntu. However I didn't have high enough spec hardware for win 7 (I think it is due to only 1gb ram, i do have 64 bit technology and a 1tb harddrive). I am quite happy to install 32 bit ubuntu and hear it is easier the use than 64 anyway.  So I have one other rubbish mini laptop (windows xp) which i am trying to use to get ubuntu onto a usb (laptop has no cd drive) so i can install it on the pc. First tried just downloading ubuntu 13.04 desktop onto a usb and trying to boot the pc from it which gave the message 'no operating system'. Then I tried this to create a bootable usb which sounded promising:  . However then it starting asking for my saucy desktop iso in order to install it onto the usb stick, can't really manage to find out what a saucy desktopp iso is, maybe a mirror image of an operating system, no idea why i would need that.  So in short, I'm lost. All I can think of is getting windows xp somewhere so i can get my pc to work and install ubuntu from the internet on that, or going to a friends house in the hope that creating a bootable cd is easier than creating a usb.  Sorry for my general ineptness and hope someone can help!
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Please read entire post CAREFULLY before answering.  This question will make you confused if you don't.  Information (May skip :P)   OS : Windows NT 6.2 (Windows 8 K) Equipped hard disk   Total 1TB, 1 disk C: (Simple Layout, NTFS, Boot, Pagefile, Crash dump, Main): total 488,039,776,256 bytes, used 93,473,599,488 bytes D: (Simple Layout, NTFS, Main): total 486,859,075,584 bytes, used 8,426,016,768 bytes hidden: Ask if needed  Brand(manufacturer): Samsung Electronics Processor(CPU): Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3230M CPU @ 2.60GHz RAM: 8GB , 64-bit , OS 64-bit   Question (READ THEM ALL VERY CAREFULLY)   Is there any way to install Ubuntu on this computer without any external disk (CD, USB drive, etc) Note : This computer is 64-bit, so  did not help me. WUBI does not support UEFI, and This computer uses it. No Virtual PC programs like VirtualBox or VMWare, because it takes memory.   EDIT : I already found a USB drive in my home, so now it is installed on my computer xD
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I want to know if I will keep and still be able to use my Windows 7 installation after I use the Wubi Windows Installer (from ) to install Ubuntu?  Thanks in advance, Bas.
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I  was wondering about Linux security issues. Most people agree that a virus-scanner is not useful on a linux system, but what about a firewall? I am using Debian wheezy stable and before used Ubuntu 12.04. If I only have a personal PC which is logged into a secured WLAN, do I need a firewall and what is already set up on the two OS mentioned above?
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Possible Duplicate:          According to many articles like , it says that windows is more vulnerable to virus. I recently installed wine on my Ubuntu to run some windows programs by sudo apt-get install wine It when I looked into the directory structure I got to know that the windows program regedit.exe has been installed along with other simple windows programs. As per my knowledge some of the windows viruses give network access to registry making windows vulnerable for attacks. I am worried that installing wine would make the system vulnerable. Is it so? Are there any solutions to this problem?
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In my situation, it's for a local build/staging server running ubuntu server. Things I'd like to know are:  Why I should/shouldn't use LVM?  What problems might it cause in terms of either regular server operation or things I might want to do later? (ex. partitioning)  Why I should/shouldn't use encrypted LVM instead of LVM?  What problems might encrypted LVM cause in terms of either regular server operation or things I might want to do later? (ex. partitioning)
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I want to know if I can open a virtual machine (VMware , Virtual Box ...) and (for example) install windows 7 + some programs (chrome,Word,antivirus....) and then save the current stat (i don't have any idea how i can) then execute a malware after that i want to know if it's possible to know the modified files and the new registry keys that they've added to the VM (All the modifications) after the first saved stat (just for malware analysis) and then i want to be able to return the VM to the first stat (in some tutorials on youtube i saw them saving the new modification in files like "Virus.VMEM" )  How can i do that on linux (Debian) I've already installed VMware and  I'm ready to install any other tool could help me ?  I know it's difficult but please help with any idea :)
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Today I found something strange on my newly installed Windows 7 OS - my "users" folder C:\Users was shared and "Everyone" had full access... I disabled that and now it seems fine, however I'm a bit scared actually, I'd like to know what caused that and if my system is compromised.
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Does the Virtual PC XP-Mode (or any other virtualized mode) require safety measures, such as antivirus or a firewall?  I'm just wondering if the XP-Mode would be a large security loophole, since it's so much more integrated into Windows 7. Actually I'm wondering the same for Portable Ubuntu, are their any safety measures I should undertake, so that I don't open a backdoor on my computer.
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So this keylogger is being sold on HF doesn't rely on any dependencies or anything like that so it's able to infect linux systems.  Thread link:   If you are not registered with the forum here is the sales thread image:   Link is safe to view it's just a sales page on the forum.  What can I do to prevent such things infecting my system?  I read this:   I just want to confirm it's true the way it would have to install to infect me.