Q&A: UNIX Antivirus
A LinkedIn “Unix and Linux Forum” user asked:
“My company is going to require antivirus software on all UNIX servers. Does anyone know of a good reliable product? I was under the impression that UNIX was not prone to viruses as Windows is.”
You are somewhat correct in your assumption that UNIX is not as prone to viruses as windows, however, UNIX filesystems are commonly used to host and share files, email clients that run on UNIX can forward contaminated files, and web servers that run on UNIX can be infected and become the Typhoid Mary of the computing world. Running a virus scanner can protect other systems as well as your own. Also note that while a virus running in userland/user-space can not (typically) contaminate the kernel or protected files and filesystems, files available to the executing user can be corrupted; yet another reason not to work as root!
UNIX systems that are used as workstations are also somewhat more susceptible to Trojans, worms, and some few virus strains than their UNIX server counterparts:
- http://www.claymania.com/unix-viruses.html
- http://antivirus.about.com/od/linuxunixviruses/Linux_Unix_Viruses.htm
- http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204791925
As an aside: It is common for people to loosely call malware/spyware/trojans “viruses” — while they are not. Having a “virus scanner” may also protect you from .jpg and .gif viral/trojan content.
It is also a common fallacy that Mac OS systems do not need antivirus software — in fact, Apple has always recommended the use of protective software and even offers a third party brand on the apple store website along with links to McAfee’s Virex and Symantec’s Norton Antivirus for Mac:
[Edit: Update on Apple’s post regarding antivirus software.]
There are many [other] software companies that offer UNIX builds of their antivirus tools, or if you are going to need a less expensive option, you can try a few of the “open source” or less costly consumer options:
- Download Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Linux Server
- Kaspersky Anti-Virus for File Server 6.0
- McAfee
- ClamAV
- Avira AntiVir Server
- Sophos
This was a great question, thanks for asking it!
In summary: Always use protection!
NOTE: This article has been edited to keep it up to date (changing and adding links as necessary.)
