I have always heard not to use antivirus on Linux but I saw the post about a guy getting a RAT exploit backdoored through wine and it had me thinking should I be using ClamAV or some other antivirus for Linux?

  • AgentBoom@lemmy.world
    1·
    12 hours ago

    I think it all depends on your PC usage and if you have money to pay for an AV.

    • If you only browse the Internet, I suggest you get an AV browser extension/add-on + an adblocker.
    • Disable unnecessary permissions (specially notifications!).
    • Change your DNS to another that protects from malware (Cloudflare and Adguard have a special DNS for this).
    • Always delete cookies on exit.
    • If you frequently download files, you can scan them with VirusTotal and ClamAV.
    • When you want to execute a program you don’t fully trust, a VM or Firejail will let you run it without harming your real machine (good idea if you fear getting a RAT through WINE).

    I learned all of this using Windows, and you can adapt it to any OS. All of my recommendations are meant exclusively for security, keep in mind that some of them are not the best for privacy.

    But the only way to get full and annoying real time protection with all the typical antivirus tools on Linux, is paying an AV subscription. Most AV suites for Linux are developed for servers, I’m not sure if an active plan for home users exists. Just remember, it all depends on your PC usage.