Ubuntu is it secure out of the box?

opethdisciple · 22 Apr 2011 at 19:30

I have a really old laptop with win xp on it, and it was so slow to the point it was unusable.

I have installed ubuntu on to the laptop and it is usable again.

My question is do I need to run a firewall or antivirus on the pc, to use it safely on the Internet?

Also does the os auto update, or is it manual only?

fishfishfish · 22 Apr 2011 at 19:34

Most Linux users run neither a firewall or antivirus software. However, both are available if you want to use them. I've been using Linux for about 11 years and have never had any security/virus related issues with it.

opethdisciple · 22 Apr 2011 at 19:57

You don't think its necessary for a device running ubuntu to run a firewall or antivirus if its connected to the Internet?

zetec452 · 22 Apr 2011 at 20:09

If you are on a network with other windows users you may want to consider running an antivirus. It would never harm to configure some IPTABLES either imo.

tntcoder · 22 Apr 2011 at 20:51

opethdisciple said:
You don't think its necessary for a device running ubuntu to run a firewall or antivirus if its connected to the Internet?

No need for AV, but as JonRohan said if you are doing something like sharing files with Windows clients you could run ClamAV - but getting a Linux virus is basically of negligible concern.

If you're behind a NAT router then don't bother with a host-based firewall.

If you don't trust other boxes/people on your LAN or it's directly connected to the internet i.e the ethernet card has a public IP then run iptables for firewalling.

Read this to: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18243868

opethdisciple · 22 Apr 2011 at 21:31

Nah, its just running on a home network, behind a NAT router.

So basically I'm not going to install or run any Anti Virus or Firewall

Fillado · 22 Apr 2011 at 23:17

Just to clarify the Firewall issue:

By default under Ubuntu (and Linux in general) all ports are closed to inbound traffic unless a specific program is listening on it. Think of it as having a firewall that will let any program you choose to run do its thing (inbound and out) without prompting, but protect any ports not in use. Windows, at least in the past, used to leave every and all port wide open. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure that at least used to be the case? So it's a bit hard to at least initially to compare the two needs for a firewall.

This behaviour is fine for most home users since you're behind a router and so trust your network (instead of being directly onto the internet). But since you're on a laptop you can have different usage scenarios. For example wanting a Samba port open when you're at home to share files over a network and then closing it up when on a public WiFi network. Or you may just want more control over what is happening. In which case as stated above you need to configure iptables - Linux's built in firewall. The Ubuntu way of doing it? UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) and its GUI GUFW.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UFW

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Gufw

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Firewall

BigglesPiP · 23 Apr 2011 at 02:48

I tend not to run a firewall or anti-virus. But it is advisable to if only to protect windows users from a virus you may otherwise pass on but which you are immune to.

There are GPL anti-viruses. And theres a NOD32 for Linux BETA, but last time I tried it it was far from ready.

IPtables is the software firewall you'd use, it's hard to set up but the gufw program makes it easy.

When My laptop connected directly to the internet (no NAT) I used a very strict firewall and even blocked ICMP ping.

deadite66 · 23 Apr 2011 at 08:55

BigglesPiP said:
There are GPL anti-viruses. And theres a NOD32 for Linux BETA, but last time I tried it it was far from ready.

when i tried it in ubuntu 10.04 i was unable to to do any updates.

quackers · 23 Apr 2011 at 12:29

as force of habit, I do install and enable gufw I also remove remote desktop. On the Ubuntu forums, compromised machines always seem to happen one of two ways.

The first is ssh not being configured properly and the other is remote desktop(vnc) running and the person has upnp running on their router.

opethdisciple · 23 Apr 2011 at 19:10

I have to admit, I am liking the new theme for ubuntu.

Also the UI for Firefox 4 is nicer under ubuntu than windows!

A few things that still need to be worked on imo which are still minor, are there should be support for all the latest software, such as I noticed the latest version of vlc under ubuntu was 1.1.5 (I think) and Acrobat was only up to 9 etc......

Im contemplating moving the pc im currently using, which is a P4 pc with 2g ram and a ATI 4650 over to ubuntu... just for the sake of it.

But some of my favorite programs such as utorrent even itunes (not favourite) are not supported.

It seems for me any way, ubuntu is a great way to take old hardware, and breath new life in to it.