So a common issue I'm going to address in this short "guide" as you may want to call it. Linux security. The basics. A main problem I see is the misconception that if you run Linux, you can't get viruses and you'll never have to worry about anything ever again. You can browse allllll the goat pr0n you want and not get fucked. Well that's a wrong statement now is it? We all know that Linux is top notch as security these days. In fact, a rank of the three mainstream OS's security wise is listed here: [list=1] [*]Linux[/*:m] [*]Winblows[/*:m] [*]Mac(UGHHH)[/*:m][/list:o] So quite obviously, Linux is the first on the list(This also includes other Unix type OS's). And surprising to some, winblows has more security than Mac. Surprising ay? I hate all the people that say Mac is the most secure OS on the planet and it never has any viruses what so ever. Sure it's good for music and shit like that, but from a DIY, Coding and Hacking perspective, it sucks. A lot. So anyway, enough about ranting about Mac's(Quick fact: Steve job's invented the first Apple computer stoned as fuck). Then, more secure than Mac is Windows. Sure windows is pretty good, I'm not gonna lie and say it sucks. It does what it needs to do. The most common ways to protect yourself on a Windows machine are Common sense, a good firewall and good AV(Anti-Virus). Now onto Linux. Sure, Linux is on top of that list for many reasons. Great inner coding, reliable, trustworthy with personal data, hardly crashes, speedy etc.. But a very common misconception as stated above is that you're impervious to anything when running Linux YOU'RE NOT FUCKIN SUPERMAN!! Just because it's reliable and safer than Mac and Windows, doesn't mean its impervious like stated above. I see people that run Linux and say to themselves "Hey, I can do whatever I want because I run Linux! Not true at all. Mac and Windows both have a lot more viruses than Linux, but Linux still has it's wide varieties of Exploits and Viruses to fuck you over big time. Exploits like h00lyshit(Coded in C) are widely used to gain root. What is root? It's the "Super User" of a Unix system. The equivalent of Admin on Windows. Basically, you have complete control as a root user. So an attacker can use an exploit such as h00lyshit, run it, and gain root. Then the attacker may do anything they want. And viruses can happen too! Linux viruses are a lot less common these days because most people use Mac and Windows. But you can still get them none the less.
How to protect yourself? Pretty simple, in fact.
1. Run a firewall ASAP. Firewall's will help prevent network intrusions. Many firewalls can be obtained through package managers such as, PacMan(Mandriva), Synaptic, Aptitude etc.. Just look through with search terms such as "Firewall" and you should get some good ones.
2. Run an AV. Yea, Linux has AV's too. I recommend choices such as ClamAV. That's what I use. And just as though you were running a Windows box, scan regularly. There are tons of worms and Trojans that could be hidden in your Linux system as you read this.
3. THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!!! A common mistake I see are users running everything as a root user. This is so stupid. Unless you need to run something as root, don't. This could potentially fuck you over big time. And when I say big time I mean big time lol. And never run any of the following commands if someone tells you too.
rm -rf / Deletes everything on / which holds all system shit.
rm -rf * Pretty much the same as rm -rf /
mkfs.ext3 Formats drive. Don't do it with anything such as mkfs. anything
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There are a couple more but that's all I can think of. The last one is a Linux fork bomb. Don't be stupid and run this on your system. In SH code, it looks like this basically
bomb() { bomb | bomb & }; bomb
This will mess you up pretty bad. It's commonly used to test how much a system can handle though.
5. System pop ups. Beware! Most distro's have to run some certain things as root. Linux always pops up asking for your password before you run it as root though. So don't be stupid. Make sure you know the process trying to access root and know it won't do anything bad to your system. If you don't know, google it. Google is your friend. Don't randomly run something as root without knowing what in the hell the process actually does. This is retarded lol
Those 5 thing's are some actions you can take to make your Linux system safer. Follow them with care and don't be stupid!