In a move that will both please and dismay users in equal measure, the “world’s most popular anti-virus” application ‘ESET NOD32’ is now available on Linux.
Offering up ‘complete protection’ against ‘cross-platform and emerging threats’, the release aims to ‘enhance the security of Linux platforms.’ using the award-winning ‘ThreatSense engine’ that ‘automatically detects and cleans malicious code, including threats designed for Windows and Mac based systems’.
The application claims to deliver advanced protection without impacting on system performance.
So, is there a need?
“Given the importance of consumer and business usage of Linux, it is essential to equip users with advanced security software to protect against cyber-attacks,” the CEO of ESET, Richard Marko, said.
An article from 2006 by internetnews.com reports that the number of Linux-specific malicious programs has more than doubled during 2005 from 422 to 863.
Wikipedia lists a number of known worms, viruses and trojans targeting Linux. Most have long since been rendered useless by updates.
Download
ESET is not a free application; a 30-free trial, available in both 32bit and 64bit flavours, is available for download @ eset.eu/download/trial.
A full license costs around £29.99. Windows users can find this cheaper on Amazon and other 3rd party sellers; Linux users currently lack that option.
Once downloaded one simply needs to ‘Allow executing file as program’ and then run the file.
Eset via Johip