Ubuntu vulnerable to malware sites?

I just browsed a site a while ago that was flagged as an "attack site" or has malware, but Firefox didn't warn before I went into it. Only when I opened a new tab with another page from the site did it block the page.

How do I check for vulnerabilities on my system since I think there are no anti-malware available for Ubuntu? If there are, please do tell.

Thanks!

Solution 1:

If the vulnerability to exploit is in the browser (or plugin it uses) then yes. They're just as exploitable as their counterparts on Windows and OSX. There are of course plenty of single-platform examples too but many Flash (for example) exploits are cross-platform.

Thankfully most exploits are just droppers (to install something else on the computer) and most of those aren't compatible with Linux. But you shouldn't get complacent and get cocky. Web security applies to everybody. Just because people aren't targeting you today, doesn't mean they never will.

There are antivirus products for Linux (AVG, ClamAV) that go some way to detect bad things but the market hasn't caught up with Desktop Linux users yet IMO.