5 settings making your Linux PC less secure
5 settings making your Linux PC less secure
https://www.howtogeek.com/settings-making-your-linux-pc-less-secure/
Publish Date: 2026-03-20 11:30:00
Source Domain: www.howtogeek.com
Think your Linux PC is secure just because it’s Linux? Well, I hate to break it to you, but Linux—while it might be more secure than Windows—is not invulnerable. The architecture is solid, the open-source model helps, and yes, the threat landscape is smaller. But none of that matters if you’ve left the wrong settings unchecked. Here’s a quick look at five common settings that people leave enabled (or disabled) that are making their Linux PCs less secure.
You have left your firewall disabled
One toggle stands between you and all the hackers on the entire internet
Most Linux distros—Ubuntu included—come with a firewall pre-installed. However, it’s disabled by default, and most people never bother turning it on. Now, for a basic Linux desktop intended for casual use cases like browsing the web or checking email, this is generally not a problem. However, if you use your Linux PC as a web server and run services like SSH, Samba, or Nextcloud, then you really should enable your firewall.
You see, each of these services opens a port on your Linux PC, which makes it accessible to the entire internet. This exposes you to potential hackers trying to break into your system and steal your data. However, with a firewall enabled, you can limit all of these services to devices that are only connected to your local network. This blocks those ports and makes them unreachable from the rest of the internet—significantly reducing your threat level.
Now, if you’re using Ubuntu, it comes with UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) preinstalled. There’s no graphical app to access it, but you can install GUFW to manage it graphically. However, if you’re on a KDE Plasma-based distro, firewall settings are directly accessible from the System Settings app. Also, if you want to be more proactive about your network security, I’d strongly…
