Do you need to have a firewall on a linux desktop?

Hi. I wanted to know if it's needed to install a firewall on a linux desktop/laptop. Why yes or why no?

You're viewing a single thread.

86 comments

Why not? It's comically easy to set up one.
- It’s also comically useless to have a desktop firewall application installed when you’re already behind some sort of firewall solution like a router not forwarding most incoming traffic.
  
  It depends. Sure, maybe somewhat redundant for a home desktop that just stays at home on a network you control, but for a laptop it is absolutely essential.
  You may also want a firewall to defend against other devices within your local network. Let's say you have IoT devices, many of which are poorly secured and maintained by their manufacturers, or you live with family members or guests who don't practice or even know about proper computing hygiene and are bringing in devices onto your local WiFi.
  
  My IoT devices already have a dedicated network and guest can use my guest WiFi. But yes, you’re right. It depends. And especially for mobile devices some sort of local firewall solution could be relevant. If there are no ports exposed to the LAN you’re pretty save, though.
  
  No you aren't, browser based malware puts the attacker inside your fancy network. A basic firewall will greatly hinder any attack at basically no cost to you.
  
  There's incoming and then there's outgoing traffic. Software firewalls can forbid processes that may be advertised as "offline only" from reaching out; typically a hardware firewall doesn't care about this kind of thing.
  
  Some people like hosting some servers on their desktop as well, and doesn't want others on their local network to access them. With firewalls, you can allow specific IP address to reach those servers.
  
  That's fine right up until something on your network, even the ISP modem-firewall-router-switch itself, gets compromised.

86 comments