In order to access the shared network drives I use for work I’m required to use a VPN since I’m remoting in from outside the network.
The VPN access requires my personal computer to have antivirus software from an approved list of vendors.
I’ve never bothered with antivirus on Linux before.
Any advice on which one will have the smallest footprint and is the least intrusive from this list:
Avast
AVG AntiVirus
BitDefender
Kaspersky Anti-Virus
Malwarebytes
I’d appreciate any feedback.
Do any of those even have a Linux version? I think your work needs to update their policies for Linux.
I don’t think any of these vendors in your list have single user A/V for Linux. There are several in the list that do Enterprise level stuff and endpoint security… but that’s probably not what you’re being asked to install.
Example… https://www.avast.com/business/products/linux-antivirus is the Avast offering I know of… and it’s not really what you want/need. Kapersky… BitDefender etc all have Linux offering, but in the medium business to Enterprise side of things.
How will they even know you’ve got an A/V installed? I’m guessing they are assuming Windows or OSx…
Does it absolutely have to be from that list of vendors? You could use ClamAV… which is the go-to for most Linux A/V needs. Or Comodo maybe?
Bitdefender usually has great deals for their stuff, for holidays and random sales, It stays out of the way for the most part and I’ve never had to disable it for any reason.
I was looking into it, and at the moment I can only confirm that Avast has a free single-user antivirus package for Linux.
They have a spreadsheet of compatible antivirus software and their versions, and some of the versions are years old.
It’s a large-ish municipal government and close to a thousand of us have transitioned to permanently working from home over the last year.
They’re still figuring things out.
They use Cisco AnyConnect for the VPN.
“The Compliance Module (aka ISE Posture Module) is part of the AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client and offers the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client the ability to assess an endpoint’s compliance for things like antivirus, antispyware, and firewall software installed on the client endpoint.”
IT gave me a spreadsheet for antivirus software that is on the whitelist for the Compliance Module. Specifically, software for linux.
However, the product version numbers seem outdated and many of them are commercial products that I would rather avoid paying for.
Thanks for the information.
Do you know if they have a free version of their software for Linux?
Reading the other comments you’ve made here, it looks like they are using wildly outdated posture conditions… that are Windows-only.
Anyconnect VPN has a Linux client, and supports “some” posture features… for example: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/vpn_client/anyconnect/anyconnect48/release/notes/b_Release_Notes_AnyConnect_4_8.html#reference_EFBDFFF129F04FA685239358AAA520A8
If your IT doesn’t update things to work with something other than Windows you’re probably going to use Windows…
I appreciate the link.
There is a lot of useful information there.
At this point, I’m going to take what I’ve learned today and try and take a crack at it again.
At least that way I’ll have more info to bring to a discussion with my IT department.
I may be entirely out of luck but it’s still worth pursuing for now.
I’m not being forced to use it, so unfortunately they won’t have to pay for it.
I could use Windows 10 with its built-in Windows Security Essentials, which is what I do right now, but I’m interested in switching to Linux as my main OS.
Bitdefender does have a Linux version I’m pretty sure,
MS Defender is also free and is available for linux
you beat me to it.
OP: please do let us know if you try this and it works 