Whenever we install a program, download a file, or simply browse the Internet, we can have significant security problems. We can expose the proper functioning of the teams if we make mistakes. This makes it essential to have good programs that protect us and know how to detect possible threats. We must apply it to all types of operating systems that we use. In this article we are going to talk about Lynis , a complete audit that we can use on Linux.
Lynis, the security audit for Linux
Linux is considered a more secure operating system than Windows. This is mainly because there is less malware created to attack the multiple distributions out there. However that does not mean that there are no problems that affect privacy, security or cause errors with installed applications.
Lynis is a very complete audit that we can use on Linux. It is available for such popular distributions as Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, and OpenSUSE. What it basically does is analyze all the software installed on our computer and look for possible problems that we should correct. This way we will know if we have to make changes, install updates, etc.
There are many tools of this type. However, Lynis is very interesting precisely because it is complete and also because it is available for both desktop and server systems.
It is open source. We can access your website to find all kinds of information, as well as download it . But we can also install it directly from our system, through the terminal. For example in our case we have tested it in Ubuntu.
How to use Lynis on Linux
To start using Lynis we can add it from the terminal through the command “sudo apt-get install lynis”. It will ask us for the administrator password and then it will download the necessary packages for installation on the system.
From that moment on we can start using Lynis. If we want something basic and fast we can execute the command lynis –Q . What it does is a quick scan to detect potential security problems that it finds in installed software.
It will begin to analyze the different sections of our system and analyze them one by one. It will also show us information about each of them, so that we have the necessary data when taking possible measures with the aim of improving our security.
In the first section we will see information related to the installed operating system, user name, kernel version, platform, etc. It will also start to perform different tests, check the existence of different files, the security of functions, processes, system files, etc. It is a very complete auditing tool, as we can see.
It also shows us sections such as printers that we have connected, firewall, servers, networks … All this in order to detect possible problems that may exist and correct them so as not to have complications at the security level. Very useful if, for example, we have web servers installed.
In short, Lynis is an interesting tool with which we can perform audits on our Linux system, both at the desktop and server levels. In our case we have tested it on Ubuntu, but it is available for many of the main Linux distributions.
Why we must protect our systems
Protecting our systems is not just having an antivirus. It is important to keep all the basic safety aspects properly always. Something essential is to have the latest versions . There are many occasions in which vulnerability problems can arise in the applications and systems we use. Those flaws can be exploited by hackers to carry out attacks.
Therefore, beyond having security tools we must also ensure that we have the latest versions and, of course, that there are no vulnerabilities in the programs and tools that we use. For this we can also make use of services such as Lynis to analyze the system in search of problems .
Also, as an added recommendation, we must always keep common sense in mind. Make no mistakes when surfing the net, downloading programs and configuring computers. This is something that we must always apply regardless of the type of operating system or device that we are using.