With the increase popularity of the linux desktop and the steamdeck, will new viruses and malwares be developed for linux systems? should we better use an antivirus?

  • ch1cken
    41•2 years ago

    No, but I follow good security practices instead:

    • sandboxing apps where possible using flatpak/bubblewrap or bubblejail which makes bubblewrap convenient.
    • opensnitch to block internet access for certain apps or restricting them to specific domains/ip’s. E.g if i install a chatgpt client, it should only contact openai/chatgpt, if it later pushed an update stealing my credentials, this wouldn’t let it.
    • i use ublock, google safebrowsing on firefox (because checks are done locally in a privacy respecting way), and pihole with hagezi’s lists.

    I also use fedora which has good defaults, in that it uses selinux/wayland out of the box.

    when im on windows i use a similar set of tools, sandboxie plus for sandboxing, and a combination of simplewall + portmaster as an opensnitch alternative, the latter provides more fine grained control and simplewall just gives the allow/block popup for apps.

    • @phx@lemmy.ca
      2•2 years ago

      You can also do fun stuff like running the app as a separate user, and using sudo+xhost to access it. Most Linux firewalls allow you to set a rule with uid-affinity, so you could restrict the additional user to a whitelist of IP’s.