As of yesterday, Linux Client and Server Security 5.30 is no longer a supported version. This was a nice release, at least from our perspective. It introduced several new and improved features:

• Scanning core placed in its own rpm package, the f-secure-security-platform.
• The core introduced riskware scanning.
• Database updates abandoned the old HTTP download client and replaced it with Automatic Update Agent. AUA is a robust background daemon with advanced binary diff capabilities that save bandwidth.
• We took into use syscall hooking in the dazuko driver for Linux 2.6 kernels. This made it possible to provide scan-on-close functionality and support Red Hat kernels. Earlier versions required Red Hat customers to recompile a kernel with capability as a module.
• Firewall rules wizard was introduced in the web user interface.
• Support for servers running Samba. (That was easy. We just tested that realtime protection works with Samba.)
• We shipped a guide for integrating with popular mail transport agent software.

Today, this fine release is history. We encourage everyone to upgrade to Client or Server Security 5.52. You will get:

• Support for 64 bit Linux distributions.
• Command-line-only installation mode for customers who don’t need anything else.
• Rock-solid stability. We’ve worked very hard to eliminate any possibility for system hangs and fixed lots of bugs.

A company called Untangle arranged a test for Linux anti-virus products (Be careful! The page has links to live viruses!)

Because the test did not look very well set up, we chose not to participate in it. Others have already commented on the merits of the test arrangements, so I won’t go into more details in here.

However, curiosity got the best of me and I downloaded the test set and tried it on F-Secure Linux Server Security 5.52. Of the 34 files in the test set, we detect 31 as infected. The remaining 3 files are password-protected zip files, which obviously cannot be scanned.

So, we did rather well in the test after all. But you don’t have to take my word for it. For good testing of anti-virus software see Virus Bulletin and AV-Comparatives where our software has always gotten top scores.

Just had a look at Symphony OS 2007 which we found inside Linux Format September 2007 issue DVD. Symphony is a Ubuntu based Linux distribution which uses the Mezzo for desktop environment. Mezzo in turn is a FVWM-based usability driven desktop project aiming to give us a new way of presenting information. The four hot corners of the screen are very well utilized and all the applications and files are visible on the desktop, instead of hidden inside complex menus.

While Symphony OS still has some bugs and the overall experience felt a bit sluggish, it seems like something to keep an eye on.