Closure of a previous question and new questions on system security apps...

[Jeffrey F. Bloss]

Brian Lunergan wrote:

> Now, as to questions on systems security apps. I'm running v5.10 and
> have upgraded my Firefox to version 2. I've pulled in a debian

Consider taking a look at Opera. In my opinion it's a more "mature"
product, and if you're measuring your security applications by sheer
numbers of vulnerabilities and their severity Opera can't be beat by
any mainstream browser.

> edition of the anti-virus program I've used for the last year or so

Which one would that be? Sometimes you find that top of the line
Windows software looses something in the translation. One "standard" on
Linux boxen is ClamAV. Frisk (F-Prot) offers a free a Linux command line
version also, that seems to maintain it's abilities across platforms.
Clam is more email oriented, and even catches quite a few phishing
attempts. F-Prot is... well, F-Prot. :) A good, solid scanner with
frequent updates.

> on my windows setup, and have a trio of likely candidates to
> investigate for a firewall application. I'm looking for a good data

You should already have a firewall installed, you just need to
configure it. The reason it's not enabled by default is that Ubuntu
leaves nothing listening at its defaults so there's really no reason
for it. If you're talking about installing a front end to help you
configure and manage netfilter/iptables that then fine, but don't waste
time looking for something that won't be any better, and probably worse,
than the stuff you have.

> backup solution to cd-rw, and an anti-spam application along the
> lines of the spampal program I've been using over on my windows setup.

Spamassassin and Bogofilter are again, two "standards". Spamassassin is
a little more feature rich, and a lot slower. It also requires a daemon
be running in many/most implementations. Bogo is fast and lean, and
seems to take to training a little easier. At least on this system.
Either one should work after it learns its job, and as you say, nothing
will catch 100%. For that reason I'd say Bogofilter unless you were
running your own mail server. I run both. SA on my server and Bogo in my
workstations. I still occasionally see spam, but I'm not as
aggressive as some.

> 
> Having said all that I can just hear all those Linux purists on the
> list getting ready to trot out the flames and put downs that I'm some

Why would anyone do that when you're asking legitimate questions?

Your sweeping generalization of people who prefer one environment to
another as prone to "trotting out flames and put downs" on the other
hand, certainly begs that caliber of reply. :-/

-- 
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