Linux Anti-Virus Tools Put To The Test

I have used Linux off and on since 1999, but have only been using it full-time for just over a year. In all that time though, it never once occurred to me that I should install an anti-virus to remain safe. I mean, isn’t that one of the reasons people enjoy Linux (and OS X)? It’s to get away from the hassles that Windows is plagued with. Well, whether you know it or not, Anti-Virus tools for Linux are plentiful, and some are far, far better than others.

In this comparison at LinuxWorld, 10 Anti-Virus’ were put to the test, against 25 reasonably well-known viruses. Only three of the applications caught all 25 viruses, which is rather impressive in itself. But the others performed far worse. WatchGuard Linux AV caught only 6% of the viruses, for example, although the company disputes the results. Kaspersky and Symantec proved to be the top ranking in the test.

The “winners” in last night’s contest were Linux tools from Kaspersky and Symantec, and the open source Clam AV. All three tools caught 100 percent of the viruses they encountered. FProt and Sophos caught 94 percent; McAfee caught 89 percent; and GlobalHauri, Fortinet, and SonicWall caught 61 percent.

Source: Dark Reading