5 Free And Best Linux Antivirus Applications

 People may have the misunderstanding that Linux users don't need an antivirus application. Maybe we have reasons that linux is more secure than windows, that's for sure. However, an antivirus is very important for a computer, be it a Windows, Linux, or Mac operating system. Also, with the prevalence of malware and ransomware, and the increase in malware targeting Linux systems, it is important to have a Linux antivirus installed. Here are 5 free and best Linux antivirus applications that you can install now.

1. Sophos Antivirus

Sophos Antivirus for Linux is a fantastic free antivirus solution. The application uses powerful heuristic based detection to find unexpected threats. There are also on-demand and real-time scanning options, while Sophos Live Protection uses the same threat database as Windows and macOS to ensure excellent antivirus coverage.

Sophos Antivirus for Linux also has a few other handy tools. For example, Sophos will prevent your Linux system from becoming a distribution point for other operating systems by removing the Windows, macOS, and Android variants of the malware. Sophos is also a free, lightweight Linux app, with minor updates.

Feature:

* Light

* Free

* High performance

* Wide platform compatibility

* Blocks and removes non-Linux malware

2. Comodo Antivirus

Comodo makes popular and secure antivirus products for Windows and macOS. Comodo Antivirus is also available for Linux which provides excellent protection and is available for both 32 and 64-bit architectures. Comodo Antivirus for Linux (sometimes referred to as CAVL) features real-time behavior analysis, a powerful on-demand scanner, and anti-phishing and spam mail protection.

Feature:

* Free

* On-demand scanner, scan scheduler, custom scan profiles

* Regular updates

* Wide platform compatibility

3. ClamAV

ClamAV is a popular free Linux antivirus tool. ClamAV is a command line tool. That means you run antivirus scans and other tools right from Terminal. However, there is a free GUI, ClamTK, which you can install to make using ClamAV a little easier. ClamAV (and its GUI, ClamTK) is available through the main Ubuntu repository.

You can install ClamAV using the following command:

sudo apt-get install clamav

If you want to install the ClamTK GUI afterwards, use the following command

sudo apt-get install clamtk

Feature

* Open source

* Command line interface (or GUI options)

* On-demand scanner

4. F-Prot

F-Prot is a free Linux antivirus that provides home and enterprise support. Home users can use the powerful F-Prot antivirus scanner to keep their Linux systems free from malware. F-Prot scans for and removes boot sector viruses, ransomware, and other types of malware, with tens of millions of individual malicious file signatures for testing.

Feature

* Free

* Compatible with both 32 and 64-bit architectures

* Does not affect system performance

* Command line interface or GUI

5. Chkrootkit

Chkrootkit is a local rootkit scanner for Linux. Chkrootkit is a free and open source rootkit checker. However, it is not a Linux antivirus tool. That's because it only scans for and removes a specific set of malware, known as rootkits.

Some say Chkrootkit does have some handy features. For example, it is very light. Plus, you can boot Chkrootkit directly from a Linux Live CD or Live USB. Alternatively, install Chkrootkit directly from the Ubuntu repository using the following command:

sudo apt-get install chkrootkit

You can then run a system-wide rootkit scan using:

sudo chkrootkit

Chkrootkit receives regular updates. The definition list also continues to receive new signatures. At the time of writing, Chkrootkit scanned for more than 70 rootkits, worms, and kernel-based malware types. So, while not an antivirus, Chkrootkit is a tool you'll want to keep close at hand.

Feature

* Rootkits, worms, and kernel-based malware detection and removal

* Very light

* Run from Linux Live CD or Live USB

* Command line interface