AntiVirus

[Yrrek]

Ok, I am on a quest to switch over to Linux, and I am starting with RedHat 9. Anyone know if there are any antivirus programs out there for Linux? Or if you even need one? I remember seeing something about a Linux mail server antivirus, from the makers of AVG, but I won't have a mail server, at least not in the near future. Any ideas? And what about spyware? Thanks all!

[JustAGuy]

Ok, I am on a quest to switch over to Linux, and I am starting with RedHat 9. Anyone know if there are any antivirus programs out there for Linux? Or if you even need one? I remember seeing something about a Linux mail server antivirus, from the makers of AVG, but I won't have a mail server, at least not in the near future. Any ideas? And what about spyware? Thanks all!
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While it's not impossible to make a virus for Linux, Linux based trojans and virii rely on flaws in user security. So, if you're not running as root all the time, then you really don't have much to worry about. Internet Explorer and it's ActiveX integration are usually the culprits with Windows Internet viruses. As far as mail servers go, if you're not running one (I think it's actually enabled in default Red Hat installs, not sure though) then you have no worries.

Just tighten up your firewall, and you'll be fine.

[Yrrek]

Thanks!

[Yrrek]

Ok, I didn't want to start a new thread when there was a similar one already in the database.

Any of you network admins have a preffered antivirus program for your networks?

What about an email server?

Thanks!

[Moldran]

There are no viruses that target GNU/Linux systems 'in the wild', so you are perfectly fine without a virus scanner.
There is one well-known virus scanner for Unix: Clam AV. Its main use is scanning e-mails on mail servers for Windows viruses. I have no personal experience with it, so I cannot say anything about the details. But you probably want to check it out.

As for an email system: I recommend Postfix as MTA. It's very reliable and quite easy to set up.
There is also qmail. Some people prefer that one, but it is rather complicated to set up IMO. Also, many people dislike its license.

For POP3/IMAP access to mailboxes there are various solutions. I use Courier-IMAP.

All mentioned programs are probably included within your distribution, so there is no need to download and install them manually.