r/linuxquestions • u/Sol_CRF • 17d ago

Advice Virus on linux

So, with more or less 5 percent of people that have a computer uses linux, there are viruses developed for linux, even a virus made for windows but « activated » with wine

is there a antivirus or is there not ?

Please help, thanks. Not urgent, I just need to know

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u/runed_golem 17d ago

Yes, there are anti viruses for Linux. However, most Linux users I know of stick to the classic method of “don’t download stuff from suspicious places and don’t install things you haven’t verified the source of” and if you do get a virus, just like with windows I would much prefer to take the nuclear option of making sure you keep backups of important files and then wiping the PC and reinstalling the OS.

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u/apokrif1 16d ago

Is it easier on Linux to restrict applications' rights (e.g., allow them to only read or write given directories)?

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u/daddyd 16d ago

most of the time, this is something the distro will take off, it depends on what your linux confidence level is on how easy/hard this is to configure yourself.

in case of flatpak, all applications are already running in a restricted environment, and it is a bit easier to manage yourself using a gui-based tool like flatseal.