It’s a trap!

The problem with AV s/w in my experience, is that they do not work very well, and hinder the system’s functioning, because they provide duplicate behaviour of existing solutions and compete with them directly.

In one instance I discovered McAfee to disable write access to /etc/{passwd,shadow,group} effectively disabling a user to change their password. While SELinux will properly handle that by limiting processes, instead of creating a process that would make sure those files aren’t modified by anyone.

People need to understand Linux comes pre-equipped with all the necessary tools and bolts to protect their systems. They just don’t all live in the same GUI, because of the real complexity involved with malware…

Security is a process, not a solution.

Well put!

I personally do not know ufw, but if it does what it must, then you’re solid.

Linux is also about choices: do stuff the way you choose to, and makes you comfortable.

My bad! Thanks for pointing out my typo

The main one everybody uses at least from my knowledge and from what I’ve used over the last 13 years is UFW. That is what you want to use.

I could easily say that for firewalld… 😃

Ufw is typically available/pre-installed with Debian based systems (Debian, Ubuntu, zzz), while Firewalld is typically available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and derivates (Fedora, CentOS, Rocky, …)

But it boils down to what you prefer, really.

I see that both UFW and firewalld are recommended… is it basically OK whichever I choose?

Yes. Whichever works for you should be fine. In the end you should be able to manage it

Look into restic, it doesn’t do exactly what you want, but it’s a very powerful backup server and standalone tool

edit typo

Yes, usually you configure your endpoint firewall to block incoming traffic, while allowing all outgoing.

Unless you’re in a very secure zone, like DMZ’s.

A very good point I forgot! Only use trusted software repositories!

ebtables and iptables can be very complex. And I failed my 1st RHCE exam because of them. But once you learn, you will never unlearn, as they are quite beautifully crafted. You just need to get into the mindset of the people who wrote the tools…

Look into firewalld It has a rather simplified cli interface: firewall-cmd

The manpages will tell you a lot.

firewall-cmd —add-service=ssh Will open the ports for your ssh daemon until you reload your firewall or reboot your system firewall-cmd —permanent —add-service=ssh Will open the ssh ports until you remove them

firewall-cmd —list-all Will show you the current firewall config

I wouldn’t recommend using anti-virus software. It usually creates a lot more overhead, plus it usually mimics existing solutions already in linux. The only viruses I have ever caught using an anti-virus software on Linux are the test viruses to see if all is working fine.

Anyway, here’s my 20+ enterprise experience recommendations with Linux :

• enable secure boot: will disable launching non-signed kernel modules (prevent root kits)
• enable firewall: and only allow ports you really need.
• SELinux: it is getting better, and it will prevent processes to access resources out of their scope. It can be problematic if you don’t know it (and it is complex to understand). But if it doesn’t hinder you, don’t touch it. I do not know AppArmor, but it is supposed to be similar.
• disable root over ssh: or only allow ssh keys, or disable ssh altogether if you do not need it.
• avoid using root: make sure you have a personal account set up with sudo rights to root WITH password.
• only use trusted software: package managers like apt and rpm tend to have built in functionality to check the state and status of your installed software. Use trusted software repositories only. Often recommended by the distro maintainers. Stay away from use this script scripts unless you can read them and determine if they’re the real thing.

Adhering to these principles will get you a long way!

edit: added section about software sources courtesy of @[email protected]

Signal will leave…

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/24/signal-app-warns-it-will-quit-uk-if-law-weakens-end-to-end-encryption

Welcome to the wonderful Linux world!

I do not know Gallium, so I have very little to say about that.

Windows software can be run using Wine. It is a Windows emulator, and there is no guarantee it will work with CSP. Alternatively you could check for alternatives that run natively on Linux (Gallium). Krita? Inkscape?

Make no mistake, your journey into Linux will be riddled with obstacles, as it is not close to Windows at all. Inform yourself, learn, ask questions. But most of all: have fun!