Linux may be your best bet for increasing your computer security

Cyber ​​Security Matters — I’ve been advocating this exciting version of Linux for a very long time. However, it seems that the phrase “there’s no time like the present” is more apropos today than it’s ever been. And since it’s Cyber ​​Security Awareness Month, it’s a good time to talk about computer security.

Threats to security and privacy are never decreasing. They are constant and they become more widespread and effective with each passing attack. Bad actors are savvy and know the best ways to hit you with malware, ransomware, and other attacks that can steal your information and your identity. Once your identity is stolen, the sky’s the limit on what a threat actor can do.

One of the reasons for the extent of this threat is because you most likely use Windows as your primary desktop and laptop operating system. Unfortunately, the number of cybersecurity threats targeting Windows continues to increase year after year.

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Before you start freaking out, this isn’t another one of those articles that trashes Windows as a starting point. I’m not going to tell you how awful Microsoft Windows is. I’m not even going to mention how easy it is for ne’er-do-wells to use your operating system against you with the goal of either stealing or ransoming your data. I also won’t mention how vulnerable Windows is to numerous types of cybersecurity attacks.

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Instead, my goal is to explain the problems with Windows in a way that makes sense to anyone, regardless of their knowledge of computers, IT, and technology as a whole.

A target on Windows’ back

Imagine you are playing on a sports team. It doesn’t matter which team or which sport. For a very long time your team was absolutely dominant. Eventually, though, other teams start beating you. Next thing you know, every team has your number. How did it happen?

Because your team was so dominant for so long, other teams got wise and started intensely studying the film of your wins to finally understand every play in your playbook. And because you didn’t need to fix anything that wasn’t broken, you kept making those plays until, one fateful night, some bad actor (from another team) got their hands on your playbook had to confirm what everyone was starting to learn — your team had weaknesses that could be exploited.

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Essentially your team has been hacked. Now you’re always on the defensive, you have to scramble to come up with other plays to get back into the game.

And that’s kind of what’s happened to Windows over the years — hackers know it so well because everyone’s been using it for so long. The proprietary operating system has become so dominant that it has developed a massive target on its back that is still “in the game”.

Linux and security

Linux, on the other hand, hasn’t had a target on its back for decades and that different position has helped give it a level of security that Microsoft can’t compete with.

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What’s more, I can think of at least four other primary reasons why Linux was more secure than Windows, which are:

User Permissions: Linux has a much more structured and healthy permission system Software Installation: With Windows you can find .exe and .msi files all over the internet, many of them carrying a malicious payload. With Linux, you usually install from your distribution’s package manager, which is more secure. Open Source: By design, the Linux code has been vetted by thousands of software engineers. Frequency of updates: Linux updates are not only frequent, but when a vulnerability is discovered, it is fixed immediately

I’ve been using Linux for almost three decades and I’ve only had one instance where a machine was hacked — and it was a small business server that was also used as a desktop (it was the only option for that business at the time) .

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Also, that incident was almost 20 years ago and I did some things with Linux that weren’t exactly in the best interest of security, like using the same machine as an email server and an HTTP server while the firewall is not being used properly. That problem was entirely on me, and I ended up fixing the problem before any data was stolen.

If I had used Windows for the same purpose, chances are pretty good that the second I discovered the problem, it would have been too late.

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As for the desktop, I haven’t had a single security issue: no viruses, malware, ransomware, trojans…nothing. My life with Linux on the desktop has been trouble-free and worry-free for the most part since 1997. This does not mean that problems do not exist, because they do. In fact, over the past five years, the amount of Linux-based malware has increased, but it is nowhere near the level found within the Windows operating system.

The big question for me is why do so many people continue to use the Windows operating system when a much more secure, user friendly and future proof operating system exists? Even better, that alternative OS is free to use, can be installed on older hardware, performs like a champ, and has thousands upon thousands of free apps available to install.

If the thought of using a much more secure, reliable desktop sounds like the smart move to you, I’d suggest you start by reading this post about the different Ubuntu flavors to see if one appeals to you. Otherwise, start your search for user-friendly Linux distributions with one of the following:

Any one of the above distributions will not only keep you safer, but will keep you productive and entertained for years to come (without upgrading your hardware). Enjoy it!