Ubuntu
yelp package

Security questions - I'm a newbie

Asked by NakiMum

Okay let's start the sorry story. Someone hacked my gmail address and accessed my paypal account and withdrew money (!!!).
But now that I've got my money back, closed my paypal account, changed all my passwords and security questions (took me half the day on New Year's Day).
Now I've got some questions with regards to security, etc.

1) I know on 'good old' windoze spyware protection is needed. Is there something for Linux (I'm running Ubuntu 9.10 with FF 3.5).

2) Is there an anti-virus program that is free that can constantly run and check for things like that. I've been using Avast for a few years and never had a problem with it.

Those are my questions for now.

TIA

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anonymous1 (anonymous1-deactivatedaccount) said : 		#1

There is information included in the documentation regarding keeping your computer safe. I have included a link to the documentation for the current release of Ubuntu 9.10 below.

https://help.ubuntu.com/9.10/keeping-safe/C/index.html

I would also strongly advise reading the following to links regarding Antivirus and Firewall.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Antivirus
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Firewall

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Soul-Sing (soulzing) said : 		#2

make very good passwords! assure the connection via the mailserver is done via SSL(gmail)
an antivirusprogramm will NOT protect you on Ubuntu!
change passwords every 2/3 months

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NakiMum (nakimum) said : 		#3

So I've got the first 2 links down pat. Had them going the whole time. Forgot that I've enable ClamAV to scan every 8 hours.

I've just installed Firestarter. Should that help too?

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NakiMum (nakimum) said : 		#4

hi leoquant

i've been changing my passwords every 4 months at the max. But that's the way I learn.
Thanks for the help

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anonymous1 (anonymous1-deactivatedaccount) said : 		#5

Hello, snowflake.nz.

You said that you have had the first two links open the whole time, one of the links includes detailed explanations about using Netfilter (iptables/ipchains) system built into the Linux kernel. Firestarter is a free and open source personal firewall tool that uses Netfilter (iptables/ipchains).

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NakiMum (nakimum) said : 		#6

I don't know if I'm understanding properly now. But what I meant was that I have Firestarter & Firewall installed and running. I'm not always to sure on running terminal, etc. I'd rather prefer one that is installed that I can run. As far as the anti-virus goes, I've got Avast and ClamAV running which I run every 8 hours on my computer as I spend almost the whole day on the internet.