How To Block Ads And Spyware In Linux

[mrsad]

just leave your /etc/hosts file alone. it is a file owned by root and casual users should not need to fiddle around with it.
use firefox with adblock and the adblock-filter-updater for the ultimate browsing expirience

if you must, you can also install a proxy server (squid, see a fast guide here - http://mkeadle.org/index.php?p=14) or (if you are bored to hell) use linux build-in firewall to block unwanted connections to hosts.

[anil_robo]

You're using Firefox. Just install AdBlock.
There's even a Filter Updater extension for AdBlock, too, that'll auto-update when the list changes.

Adblock protects you against spyware/adware when you're surfing the internet through Firefox. But what about the other malicious things you can get through other programs? For example, in your email which you view through evolution? Since evolution accesses internet directly, I'd still go for blocking all the parasites through the hosts file.

[anil_robo]

In addition, I'd like to know how can I change the default error page in Firefox. I'd like to replace the big error message by a little one so that the page structure in firefox after ad-blocking looks acceptable. Thanks

[anil_robo]

I was doing the same thing. I followed all the instructions and was not getting any results. It was due to me having firefox set up to use my ISP proxy.

I appreciate that you found out the solution yourself and also shared it with us. Unfortunately I'm a not a technical superperson and I have never used proxies to access internet before. But I would really appreciate if you could tell me how to set up hosts blocking with proxies, if it's possible. I'd like to update the how-to with this as well. Thanks.

[anil_robo]

Instead of using localhost (127.0.0.1) in your hosts file, use 0.0.0.0, it should remove that loopback effect and alleviate the timeout-lag.

Thanks Refrozen! I'm in office right now, and when I get home, I'll test this trick on my Ubuntu laptop and if all goes well, I'll update the how-to accordingly. Thanks a lot!

[Mustard]

I appreciate that you found out the solution yourself and also shared it with us. Unfortunately I'm a not a technical superperson and I have never used proxies to access internet before. But I would really appreciate if you could tell me how to set up hosts blocking with proxies, if it's possible. I'd like to update the how-to with this as well. Thanks.

I haven't had any success at all with getting it to work with my proxy. I've gone through the settings and fiddled around a bit, but no luck yet. I'm keen to see how it goes with the 0.0.0.0 settings rather than the 127.0.0.1 setting. I just didn't want to be the first one to try it.

[oimon]

Spyware? Has anyone actually ever been infected by Spyware/Malware using linux?

The lack of virus/malware is a major reason why many people make the switch from Windows to (K)Ubuntu and other flavours of Linux

[linkunderscore]

Spyware? Has anyone actually ever been infected by Spyware/Malware using linux?

The lack of virus/malware is a major reason why many people make the switch from Windows to (K)Ubuntu and other flavours of Linux

Im under the impression you can not get spyware or malware running *nix. I use to get a pop-up every now and then running Fx 1.0.7 but since I upgraded to 1.5 I haven't had even a single popup.

Maybe someone more experienced and knowledgable could comment on this issue.

[Ptero-4]

I'm going to put it in both of my *nices in my eMac.

[bikeboy]

In addition, I'd like to know how can I change the default error page in Firefox. I'd like to replace the big error message by a little one so that the page structure in firefox after ad-blocking looks acceptable. Thanks

The only thing I can see about changing error messages in Firefox is the xul error page option. Not sure if that will do what you want but you can try disabling it through about:config.