Best Virus protection for Triple-Booting Windows with Linux/Mac

So what is it? My friends dad has a Windows 7-Snow Leopard Mac-Ubuntu 10.4b2 linux triple boot, and wants to to know the best AV that protects against all three. Like one for windows, one for Mac, and one for Ubuntu. Even though Mac/Linux doesn't get as much virii, Windows does and that can spread to the other partitions.

 

Re: Best Virus protection for Dual-Booting Windows with Linux/Mac

All 3 at the same time?

I don't think that exists.

But for Windows - Avast! or Comodo.

For Linux - Avast!

For Mac - ???

 

from experiance I've only ever used anti-virus on windows, I've just never seen the point on linux and mac... there just aren't many virii around for those OSs

 

Like Looneylion said, the only reason to run any anti-virus in Linux or Mac OS is so that you don't infect your Windows partition - and even that's highly unlikely unless you have an infected file on a drive that you're mounting in Windows as well.

 

Avast! for all 3

http://www.avast.com/mac-edition#tab1
http://www.avast.com/linux-home-edition
http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

 

hmmm i've also found something called MalwareBytes. It's actually a very good scan and removal tool for virus etc that are already on your pc.

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html thats the download- verified virus free by the site and by me.

 

It should be noted though that due to the nature of viruses, once you know you have been infected the only way to be sure that you are no longer infected is to do a complete format of your harddrive. Anti-virus software is completely useless after you have already been infected. Even if it says that you're clean, there's absolutely no way to know for sure unless you reformat. Anti-virus programs aren't useless though, as they can stop you from downloading or running infected files - thus preventing an infection.

 

No, that is always the case. See, here's a how a computer works, in extremely simplified terms.



The user interacts not with the operating system, but with applications. The applications themselves can't do much of anything. In order to get something done, they have to interact with the operating system - which in turns acts as a sort of link between the computer and the application. So if the application, for example, wants to know what files are currently residing in C:\windows\system32\ it simply asks the operating system and the operating system returns an answer. In other words, every single little piece of information that the anti-virus application gets comes from the operating system.

Before I go into what happens when you're infected with a virus, let me preface this by saying that this doesn't necessarily have to be the case - but that doesn't matter. What matters is that this can be the case, and there would be no way for you to know. Now, here's what a virus could do to the information chain that we saw above.



As you can see, the virus could act as an intermediary between the applications and the operating system. So now when an application sends a request to the operating system, the virus could do whatever it wanted to that request. It could let it pass through without ever even touching it, which would mean you wouldn't notice anything odd. It could change the request to something entirely different, or it could change the response to its liking.

As we previously established, anti-virus software are simply applications - just like any other - that get their information by asking the operating system for it. If the computer is infected, that information could come directly from the virus, and there is no way that the anti-virus could know the difference. So if the anti-virus asks if a certain file exists (C:\pornstash\evilviruz.exe), the virus could analyze the request and see that it's coming from an anti-virus and return: "Nope, there's no such file. You're clean!".

In other words, once you have been infected the virus could have complete control over your operating system - and subsequently your applications. An anti-virus can only act upon the information that it is given from the operating system, and if the information is bogus, the anti-virus is useless. The only way you can know that your computer is clean is to reformat it.

This definitely doesn't mean anti-virus software is useless. As I said before, it can stop you from becoming infected in the first place - as it can find known viruses before you become infected. They are, however, useless once you have become infected.

 

I'm also a programmer. I'm currently studying software engineering at a university. And yes, like I said in my post, it is possible that virii can be removed by anti-virus software, but that's not the point. The point is that once you have been infected, there is no way to know that you're clean - other than to reformat the drive. In most cases I'm sure the virii can be removed, but I sure as hell wouldn't entrust my banking information to a computer that I know has been (and still may be) infected, unless it has been reformatted.

 

wow, thriple-boot with all three of the major OSs. I really don;t think that Macs need anti-virus because the hacekrs care about the majority (Windows)

 

As for me,i use ProteMac NetMine.It's firewall for Mac.It's helps me a lot,for protect my Mac.
Post Merge: [time]1272292493[/time]
As for me,i use ProteMac NetMine.It's firewall for Mac.It's helps me a lot,for protect my Mac.

 

Yeah, thanks. My friend said that the virus can spread from different partitions, but he is a dumbass when it comes to computers (as I am sometimes).

 

Ever heard of rootkits? For those unaware, its like a virus that hooks onto your OS and lives on your motherboard (i.e.: BIOS, etc.)
Theres the whole in your condom!

If you prefer Windows more than Linux, at least use Linux to do your banking and other security/privacy sensitive activities.

 

BIOS rootkits do exist