This new tool for Linux removes malware and scans for threats, and it’s completely free
Kaspersky has unveiled a new Linux-specific malware scanner that can protect against known threats and keep your system clean.
The KVRT tool is completely free and works using a database of known threats to scan for all kinds of malware that could abuse legitimate applications or suck up your data, and safely quarantines them.
The application has some unique quirks, such as requiring an internet connection to work, supporting only 64-bit systems, and requiring users to regularly download the malware database to protect against the latest threats.
Kaspersky KVRT
The program is built to work on a wide range of Linux distributions, including CentOS, Linux Mint, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE and SUSE, and many more. And don’t worry if the Linux of your choice isn’t on the list of supported distributions, because Kaspersky says the program will probably work anyway.
When the program finds a malicious file, it will offer to clean it up and quarantine a non-malicious copy in a folder in ‘/var/opt/KVRT2024_Data/Quarantine’.
“Our application can scan system memory, boot objects, boot sectors and all files in the operating system for known malware. It scans files of all formats, including archived files,” Kaspersky said in his blog post announcing the release of KVRT.
It is recommended to run the program with a root account to ensure that it has access to all the nooks and crannies that a malicious file may hide, including system memory and boot sectors. Unfortunately, there is no way to have a KVRT scan run at startup, as the program must be run manually each time. It also can’t check for attacks in real time, so make sure you scan regularly to keep yourself protected.
For those who are not using a Linux system, it might be better to take a look at some of the best antivirus programs.