"Security, Privacy and Anonymity in Linux Mint" Guide.

[MikeNavy]

Hi,

I have written a PDF Guide: "Security, Privacy and Anonymity in Linux Mint".
(165 pages, 42 MB, revision 31).

You can download it and use it for free, it is distributed under Creative Commons license, Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

Download link from my personal website (hosted by IONOS, no ad, no malware):
https://nallino.net/stockage/security/Linux_Mint_Security.pdf

It is also available from archive.org:
[new revisions may appear a bit later on archive.org]
https://archive.org/details/linux-mint-security

Document detached signature "Linux_Mint_Security.pdf.asc":

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My OpenPGP public key, to verify the signature:

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VirusTotal test report:
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/ac36bac565b623ba3a7fba0c96f3a37271052635bd62eca79ee66b172d6a5d20?nocache=1

MD5 hash: 3a28f86cc1dd581ecbda741a2276dc6d

Privacy: the PDF document can be downloaded using Tor Browser.

Here is the Table of Contents:

Introduction
Ubuntu Main Security Features
Threats List
Local security attacks, needing physical access to computer
Distant security attacks
Various security threats
Privacy threats
Anonymity threat
Prevention
Protect the access to your computer
Update your system
Increase your system intrinsic security with Ubuntu Pro
Use trusted sources
Use a firewall
Sandbox your applications
Safe browsing
Be careful with downloaded files or attachments
Don't use Wine or Mono to run Windows programs
Set your system security
Reduce what your ISP can know
Protect your mails
Protect yourself from spam
Install LanguageTool local server
Use local translation programs
Avoid to have your personal data stolen
Stay anonymous
Protect your LAN against wireless intrusions
Detection
Malware and viruses detection
Intrusion detection
Pre-Established Arrangements
Elaborate a recover strategy
Backup and restore strategy
Proposed minimum backup and restore strategy
Annex 1: Launching Commands and GUI Applications with Superuser Rights
Annex 2: Password Protect your GRUB Menu
Annex 3: Password Selection
Annex 4: Encryption
Annex 5: How to Enable Ubuntu Pro on Linux Mint
Annex 6: Flatpak Tutorial
Annex 7: Multiboot
Annex 8: Mullvad Flatpak on Tor Network, a Secure Alternative to Tor Browser
Annex 9: Tripwire Tutorial
Annex 10: Install and Set Up Free Proton VPN
Threats / Prevention means correspondence matrix

Feel free to comment, to improve next revision.

Regards,

MN

PS: The goal of this discussion is to show that Linux Mint security can be improved, and to explain why. Since most users will not have the capability / time / will to implement such changes, Linux Mint might implement some by default.

[Latest edited on 2024-10-06]

[bryce-carson]

@MikeNavy the links in your URLs are incorrect. The text of the link is correct, but all three links URL is https://github.com/orgs/linuxmint/discussions/url, except the link to VirusTotal.

[MikeNavy]

@MikeNavy the links in your URLs are incorrect. The text of the link is correct, but all three links URL is https://github.com/orgs/linuxmint/discussions/url, except the link to VirusTotal.
Hi,

I have corrected links; the problem comes from the "Add a link" tool, when used all the links point to GitHub. I have simply copied the links without formatting.
Regards,
MN

[AtomicRobotMan0101]

4.12 Perhaps make mention that DoH can also be used in Thunderbird.

4.13.4 DuckDuckGo and Firefox also have Private Email Address redirection services.

Why not put this on Reddit as well? r/linuxmint ....

[MikeNavy]

@AtomicRobotMan0101
Hi,

Thanks for your comments.

1. DNS over HTTPS for Thunderbird is treated in 4.11.3 "Use DNS over HTTPS protocol".

2. DuckDuckGo mail redirection service: it may be interesting since the mails are transferred to your real mail address with mail trackers blocking. It is not anonymous mail, since DuckDuckGo knows your real e-mail address. But mail redirection service implies some privacy degradation: your mails are read by DuckDuckGo servers. (There is an extension with a similar functioning, vault56 protection, that submit your mails to its servers to remove trackers).
   [I prefer the use of uBlock Origin in Thunderbird: filtering is done locally, on your computer, without sending your mails to a server. I have mentioned it in 4.7.3 (Safe Browsing), and 4.13.3 (Protect yourself from spam), I will add a paragraph in 4.12 in a future revision of my guide].

3. Firefox relay and Proton Pass are similar.

4. Anti-spam protection is partial: it is based on "if your email address is not known, it cannot be spammed". But that's wrong: spamming servers spend their time to send mails with generated usernames; when they receive no error, the username exist.

Finally, I have just mentioned DuckDuckGo, Firefox and Proton alias in anti-spam techniques, though I prefer disposable addresses.

Regards,

MN

[Jopp-gh]

I'm not sure if here's the right place to ask of some questionable "security update" software of last week. Security isn't easy to research and then to implement. Thanks very much for your hard work and to share this "hot iron" with us so generously.
@MikeNavy

[AtomicRobotMan0101]

Id completely forgotten this thread.

I just re-grabbed the doco from the link.

The fact the OP has updated it is very nice indeed. (2024-05-19 - Revision 27)

[MikeNavy]

Hi, @evan McBeth @Jopp-gh Thank you for your support. You can find a similar thread on Linux Mint forum, https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=397740 This thread is a bit more detailed, you will find the list of changes for each revision. Regards, MN Le 02/06/2024 à 02:54, Evan McBeth a écrit :

…

Id completely forgotten this thread. I just re-grabbed the doco from the link. The fact the OP has updated it is very nice indeed. (2024-05-19 - Revision 27) — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#34 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AO7MW33IRHEI376U2QIZMADZFJULJAVCNFSM6AAAAAAZBV4252VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43SRDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHM4TMMZTGY3DG>. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>