AV/firewall still a necessary clunker?

[technologist]

I think this might be the appropriate place to post this question -

I have just recently been delving into Linux. One well documented strength of having such a system is it obviates the need for a firewall/anti-virus (if I have read this correctly). If I am running Linux as a Guest on the Windows systems, can I continue to go without a firewall/AV as long as I only access the Internet on the Linux side of things?

I find that the Linux access to the Internet is superior in many ways and I want to retain those benefits without clunking it down with unnecessary FW/AV.

[zaphraud]

I wouldn't turn off any of the built in AV/firewall features in Windows because that's still going to exist.

On the other hand, you probably don't need to saddle yourself with any of the for-pay AV stuff for windows... There's always the chance of some 0-day vulnerability that allows everything to be bypassed, but adding software-based AV only increases the chances you'll get got... If you want protection from OS-level errors you really need a hardware firewall. Software can't replace that.

Also, keep in mind Microsoft responds with updates quite a bit faster compared to the days when things like "Code Red" were problems... the majority of windows systems that are taken over these days are brought down by a user who clicked something they shouldn't have, not vulnerabilities. As a general rule, users who can handle a Linux installation aren't likely to make the kind of mistakes that end up getting Windows systems infected while sober. Its possible, just not likely.

[Ralumbi]

Hello technologist,

It is never too bad to just set-up your firewall in linux.
Here are some steps to configure it correctly:

sudo apt-get -y install ufw <-- to install if not installed yet

Make a change in the config to set IPV6=no will prevent some issues running command:

sudo vi /etc/default/ufw

Now we just need to set the programs and ports you want to allow:

sudo ufw app list <-- will show all programs which require the internet
sudo ufw allow 'PROGRAMHERE' <-- this command will let you allow a program through the firewall
make sure to add the > '' < when adding programs with spaces (for example: sudo ufw allow 'Apache Full')

To allow ports you do the follow:

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp <-- allowing port 80 at tcp connection this be changed to udp

I hope this will help you being more secure with linux !

Kindly regards,

Ralumbi