[SOLVED] Noobish question on is Ubuntu secure

[Lateforgym]

Yesterday there was an article that NASA suffered a malware attack in space. In the comment section many wrote in "Get Linux" type posts. However some angry MS lovers decided to inform that IBM "security experts" A/K/A "X-Force" put 25 viruses on "linux" (no distro specified) and only 3 out of 10 vendors caught them all (note AVG was not invited for some reason). The Windows fan suggested that Linux users should "shut up" about how secure Linux is.

I was under the impression, that Linux is akin to MAC OS where there are "no viruses". I'm an internet ***** and I fear no website, but I also never open attachments unless I know they are coming. I'm now concerned that I'm running Ubuntu with no protection, is Windows more secure or was this test by IBM X-force on Linux unreasonable using scenarios that "would not take place in the real world"?

Should I have some AV installed on my Ubuntu or visits some free website for AV/Malware/ad-aware scans weekly?

I tracked down the article the Windows user was quoting:
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2007/08/10/linux-viruses-beat-av-tools

Also, here is where the journalists grabbed his info regarding Firefox having 64 critical errors with IE having less:
http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/iss/pdf/etr_xforce-2007-annual-report.pdf

[Irihapeti]

I tracked down the article the Windows user was quoting:
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2007/08/10/linux-viruses-beat-av-tools


First thing I noted is that the article in question is over a year old. We've heard nothing since then, and I think my second point gives a good reason.

Secondly, whoever wrote it either was making a joke or didn't read their source correctly. If you follow the link, you'll find that the test was of antivirus programs such as ClamAv and other programs that run on Linux. The actual viruses are unspecified, but sound to me very much like Windows viruses that have been around for a while.

As for Firefox, it does have vulnerabilities, and you can run NoScript and Adblock Plus addons to avoid the bulk of them.

Hope that's of some help.

[hyper_ch]

(1) antivirus software on linux does not scan for linux viruses as there are none in the wild... antivirus on linux does scan for windows viruses

(2) there are about 30 known viruses for linux, none in the wild, and I think all attack vectors have been patched

(3) there are more than 60'000 known viruses for windows (just to give you some relation)