New linux users must have noticed this. There are antivirus available in the rep os.

You might question, But wasn t I promised that linux is virus free? That was an important reason for me to switch from Windows to Linux. Well the hard truth is Linux does have it s own category of viruses. But, the part that will make you hap py is that, unless you are *dumb*, a linux virus cannot survive in the hostile e nvironment it is provided with. Hostile Environment? You must have noticed that linux expects you to use Super User privileges with c are and it is better not to log in using root access. This is to avoid virus spr ead. Without your permission the virus cannot survive and I bet you are not dumb to let virus survive! There are similarities between the computer virus and the biological virus. Both viruses are tagged successful or dangerous, if it s multip lication rate is greater than it s depletion rate. In Windows, achieving this is e asy, but Linux thanks to it s security, is not. So the virus has a hostile environ ment in Linux, and hence doesn t survive! But then why Antiviruses? There is a virus in linux, and it is clever. It is called Bliss and we can talk about it later. It is experimental and has no harmful intentions I believe. The need for antiviruses is to ensure that you don t end up infecting your friends com puters that are running Windows. Hence you need to make sure that files you have downloaded and those you receive or send to friends are not infected. Of course you are safe, but you need to ensure the safety of your friends still stuck wit h Windows. Hence Antivirus. Moreover you may be dual booting. So if your Windows gets infected, you can boot into Linux and scan your Windows partitions to easi ly remove the troubling code! You can also help friends with having their USB repaired. A virus I encountered few days make disables the USB, hence making it unable to use. It is not recogni zed by Windows. So plug into Linux (it will be detected! Presto!), scan, clean a nd save your friend! What do I use? I use Avast! Home Linux. You can download it from here. Also since the registrat ion key is needed for it to work. You may get it from here. Do note that the reg istration key is available for free. For Ubuntu amd64 architecture users Since there is no link for downloading a .deb package for amd64 architecture, he nce download the i386 architecture package and force install it. Use this code t o install. sudo dpkg force-architecture -i avast4workstation_1.2.0-2_i386.deb And to run the installed avast antivirus run this linux32 avastgui & Enter the registration key for first time use. And start removing those hiding i nactive virus files. Many thanks to the HOW-TO I found in the Ubuntu Forums for the force installatio n irrespective of the architecture. I am unable to retrace the link at the momen t. Hope this post was helpful to you.