I've used Linux for 30 years, and this free security suite does it all - almost perfectly

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I've been using Linux for nearly 30 years, and I've only experienced a security breach once. That was after inheriting a misconfigured server with a rootkit. I never want to go through that again.

Over these three decades, I've seen more and more Linux vulnerabilities discovered, which is why I've been saying for some time now that if a computer -- or any device -- is connected to a network, it's vulnerable. With the advent of AI, vulnerabilities are easier to discover, which is a boon for both developers and hackers.

Consequently, I'm always looking for better ways to implement more robust security, especially security solutions for end users. Last week, I happened upon a tool called BastionGuard ( Git repository here ), described by its developer as "a Linux security platform designed for users who want deterministic behavior, explicit policies, and visible decisions -- not opaque 'trust us' protection."

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The BastionGuard platform includes BastionGuard Endpoint, BastionGuard Backup, BastionGuard Secure Connection, and BastionGuard Recovery Data.

BastionGuard 1.0 was released February 27, so having version 2.0 already is impressive. Over the past week, I've run this platform through its paces, and I can easily see it becoming a de facto standard for Linux desktop security over the coming years.

BastionGuard is not perfect yet. I ran into some issues that I couldn't resolve. But the developer is quite active, so I'm certain these problems will be fixed soon.

Perhaps the easier question is: What does BastionGuard not do? BastionGuard provides real-time scanning, protects against ransomware, maintains an updated list of safe financial institutions to help protect against banking scams, and blocks potentially infected USB devices. It includes a phishing scanner, a password manager, backup (via snapshot management), a Samba scanner, WireGuard VPN , and ClamScam email scanning.

A test file is no match for BastionGuard.

It's a security grab bag for the Linux desktop.

I ran several tests with the BastionGuard security features (I haven't yet tried the VPN, Backup, Samba, Banks, or USB tools) and found it did a good job of protecting me. I downloaded sample ransomware files (don't do this at home), and it detected them every time. However, I ran into a situation where, after one of the sample ransomware files was detected, I instructed BastionGuard to quarantine the file, and it quarantined the entire Downloads folder.