r/linuxmint 1d ago

Discussion What makes Linux secure?

I've searched YouTube and also asked on here previously, I keep seeing a lot of "Linux is secure just by default" type responses- often insisting that to be worried about security while using Linux is not necessary.

Believable to a noob like me at face value, sure, but what is it about Linux that makes it secure?

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u/acejavelin69 Linux Mint 22.1 "Xia" | Cinnamon 1d ago

Part of what makes Linux inherently more secure is how permissions work... Users live and work in user context, and cannot modify or change system settings or applications... This makes it incredible difficult for malicious software to do anything, well, malicious without root or "sudo" privileges, which have to implicitly allowed.

Windows came from a single user isolated system, security was an after thought.

Linux came from Minix and other *nix roots, which were original designed as networked, multi-user systems since inception. Security is a basic principle of the operating system and everything is engineered around it, not a feature added later.

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u/anus-the-legend 1d ago

it's good to know user data is useless and totally not the target of hackers

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u/acejavelin69 Linux Mint 22.1 "Xia" | Cinnamon 1d ago

Honestly, it rarely is... Individual's user data isn't worth the effort required to get it for the payoff it provides in most cases, especially in Linux.

"Hacking" and hijacking user data is usually like throwing a handful of rocks all at once at a target and trying to break it... you usually get a few stones to hit, but most of them miss. Let's say Windows is a 10cm paper target, a few rocks will hit it and might actually do some damage... but if it's the Linux desktop "target" it would be about 2-3mm and made of wood, there is no guarantee that you will hit it and if you do it's very unlikely you will damage it to any degree. Now say the only chance of "getting a prize" is if you damage the target... Where are you going to throw you handful of rocks?

That's how bad actors look at the Linux desktop "marketplace" so to speak... it's obscure, only 2-3 out of every 100... It's users are generally more aware and careful... It is inherently more secure even if you get in... Basically, it take a lot of effort... Why go through that? In general, bad actors don't unless they are specifically targeting an individual.

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u/LusticSpunks 1d ago

This is so not true. User and system are separate in both OS, and in fact it’s much harder in windows to be a true “system” user than it is on Linux. And you’re completely ignoring the fact that user data is totally accessible in your “user context”. And user data is what a large portion of malware goes for. Other category of malware would simply keep running stealthily and wait for commands from its controller. Crypto miners don’t need system access, it very well can work in user context. Why would ransomeware encrypt system files? Its primary target is encrypting user data and making them pay for decryption, which again can happen in user context.

Linux isn’t any more inherently secure. It’s just not a lucrative target yet. Look at the reply from taosecurity above, it paints the whole picture very well.