If you’ve switched to Ubuntu from Windows, there’s a very good chance that the security failings of Windows featured in your decision. By any measure, Microsoft’s record on security within its products is appalling.

The other day a friend came to me with a problem, he had been surfing the internet for information about the conficker worm virus. As he misspelled the name as configer virus he didn't find a lot of real information on this virus. What he did find was a lot of links to site which were indicated by google as harmful to your computer.

There has been a lot of debate recently over whether or not it's a good idea to run an anti-virus program if you're using Linux. I hope to clear up a common misunderstanding: An anti-virus program running on Linux is designed to detect Windows viruses, so that they aren't spread, unknowingly, by the Linux user. This article explains when you should run a Linux anti-virus, and what exactly they do.

System rescue cd from http://www.sysresccd.org/ include clam anti virus, during our standard operating procedure process I use this cd as one of virus detector.

Security researchers at Sophos Labs have revealed that nearly 70 percent of all Linux honeypot infections are caused by a single virus. Perhaps even more shocking, all things considered, is the fact that the virus in question, Linux/Rst-B, is actually six years old now. So concerned is Sophos at this identified trend that is has now made a specific tool available just to detect whether this one virus is present on your Linux based computer or server.

"In an exclusive report, Wikinews has learned that on Wednesday, January 16, 2008, two users, one anonymous and the other only known as MODX added code onto Wikipedia for a computer virus known as the LoveLetter virus or the ILOVEYOU virus..."

As long as NTFS partitions continue to sprawl over heterogeneous networks, anti-virus companies will dole out scanners for Linux. No surprise then that AVG Technologies, makers of the popular AVG Anti-Virus, has a scanner that runs on Linux in its latest 8.5 series bouquet.

One great advantage of using Linux (Ubuntu) is the fact that you don't really have to worry about security and hence viruses. However, this does not mean that you should not use an anti-virus on your Ubuntu machine. Especially when you can get a good anit-virus for free. BitDefender for Unices is one such anti-virus solution for Linux and you can get it for free.

If Linux is hardly affected by viruses, why do system administrators use anti-virus software on their Linux email servers? Because an anti-virus scanner on a mail server can serve as another level of defense for Microsoft Windows desktop users.