Security is paramount. Security involves defence in depth. Approaching security one step at a time, with consistency and rigour, you can mitigate threats, and keep intruders at bay.
Intruders use a variety of different techniques in an attempt to compromise a system. For example, systems can be attacked by denial of service, cracking, intrusion, snooping (intercepting the data of another user), or viruses/worms/Trojan horses. To have a secure box, a system therefore needs a variety of defences.
Anti-malware is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. The most common types of malware include viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, bots or botnets, adware, spyware, rootkits, fileless malware, and malvertising.
This article focuses on the best anti-malware tools for Linux. We only include free and open source software.
Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks chart.
Let’s explore the 14 anti-malware tools. For each application we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Anti-Malware Tools | |
|---|---|
| ClamAV | Antivirus engine for detecting trojans, viruses, malware and other threats |
| YARA | Pattern matching swiss knife for malware researchers |
| Maltrail | Malicious traffic detection system |
| ClamTk | Graphical frontend for ClamAV |
| LMD | Malware scanner focusing on threats faced in shared hosted environments |
| phpMussel | PHP-based anti-virus anti-trojan anti-malware solution |
| libredefender | Antivirus program using libclamav |
| Raspirus | Lightweight signature-based malware scanner |
| FastFinder | Fast suspicious file finder |
| Rootkit Hunter | Scans for rootkits, backdoors and possible local exploits |
| Unhide | Forensic tool to find hidden processes and TCP/UDP ports |
| Hostsblock | Malware-blocking cronscript |
| chkrootkit | Locally checks for signs of a rootkit |
| Lenspect | Lightweight security threat scanner |
This article has been revamped in line with our recent announcement.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |
I like “Linux Malware Detect (LMD)”
works also with clamav or modsecurity+uploads
It’s already listed under LMD.
Good to know!