Many Linux distributions also have built-in features and apps for improved desktop security. But installing a Linux OS isn’t the be-all and end-all solution for protecting your desktop.
Fortunately, there are also many free and open-source software (FOSS) that can add more layers of protection to your desktop. Here are some of the best Linux apps for keeping your computer private and secure.
1. Tor Browser
If you care about online privacy, you might want to stay away from Chrome. Google Chrome is known to collect private user data, which goes for Chrome-based browsers like Edge or Opera too.
Alternatives like Firefox are good for everyday web browsing with privacy in mind. With the right Firefox privacy add-ons, Mozilla’s browser can be even better at protecting your online data. But if you need to take online privacy to the next level, then Tor Browser will work wonders for you.
In great detail, we’ve shown how you can privately browse the web with Tor Browser on Linux. When opening any web page through Tor Browser, your connection passes through a web of private computers called nodes. This web is designed to hide the online traffic of Tor users. The browser and its network encrypt your IP address and block online trackers.
With Tor Browser, you will become anonymous and safer on the web.
Download: Tor Browser (Free)
2. Signal
Signal is a cross-platform messaging app that encrypts your conversations. It uses end-to-end encryption to keep messages safe from being intercepted by malicious actors. One-to-one messages, group chats, shared files, and calls are all encrypted.
The messenger is primarily made for smartphone users. You can only sign up with a phone number through the mobile app. But a powerful desktop app is also available for PC users. Users just need to link their accounts on the mobile app to use Signal’s desktop version.
Signal is simple, secure, and growing in popularity. It may very well be the best secure messaging app today.
Download: Signal (Free)
3. Element
Many other encrypted messengers are available for users who might not have a smartphone. Element, with its Matrix protocol, is a powerful alternative and complement to Signal.
Matrix is an online communication protocol that is free, open-source, and decentralized. No one server owns all the data of conversations made in Matrix. Matrix is not an app on its own. Instead, Matrix allows many client messaging apps to use the protocol.
Matrix can also support end-to-end message encryption. But not all Matrix-based apps are equally capable of encrypting conversations.
Element has the most powerful encryption capabilities among all Matrix client apps. With its advanced features, the Matrix.org Foundation recommends Element for users that want to enter the Matrix.
Element is also available across platforms, including versions for web browsers and Linux.
Download: Element (Free)
4. KeePassXC
Password managers are essential for truly securing your online accounts. They can come in handy when you have 10 or 20 online passwords to keep track of.
It would be unwise to reuse the same password for every online account. Using easy-to-memorize yet weak passwords can also leave your accounts vulnerable. There are many common password mistakes that can be difficult to avoid on your own.
Why not have a password manager make and keep your strong passwords for you instead? Using a well-organized password manager can save you a lot of time and precious data.
KeePassXC is a powerful, open-source, and offline password manager. The app generates strong passwords and maintains them in encrypted databases. KeePassXC began as a KeePass port for Linux but now works across platforms.
Download: KeePassXC (Free)
5. Authenticator
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a login method of providing user verification besides your password. 2FA is quickly becoming a standard for online security.
Today, there are many ways of authenticating user logins. The most common 2FA login method today is having a one-time verification code sent through email or SMS after typing a password.
Verifying your logins with one-time online codes is convenient. But it’s also vulnerable to email/SMS interception methods like man-in-the-middle attacks.
If you need a more secure 2FA method, then you’ll want to look into authenticator apps. An authenticator app links to your accounts so that the app can generate verification codes. It will generate codes that are unique to your accounts at regular intervals.
Authenticator apps do not need to connect with your apps after the first time. An offline authenticator app makes it much harder for malicious actors to intercept 2FA verification codes.
There are many 2FA apps, but one of the best out there is a no-frills app called Authenticator. It connects to your accounts and generates 2FA codes without any fuss. It’s also free and open-source, making the app more secure for its users.
Authenticator is also in the GNOME Circle, the GNOME Foundation’s catalog of endorsed apps.
Download: Authenticator (Free)
6. Obfuscate
Obfuscate is an image editor with only two tools: blur and redact. Though it only has a few features, users shouldn’t underestimate Obfuscate. The app was made for censoring images in a jiffy. It has the potential to save your private information from being compromised.
Using Obfuscate only requires an intuitive click-drag-release over an image element that you need to hide. This GNOME Circle app is lightweight and works like other image-blurring tools.
Why bother opening and configuring a heavy image editor like GIMP just to hide some text on an image? Using the right tool for the right job can save you time—just as Obfuscate can save your private data when you share your images to the web.
Download: Obfuscate (Free)
7. File Shredder
Whenever you “permanently delete” a file, the computer only hides the file and marks it for overwriting. That deleted file will remain intact until new files are written over the old one.
If you need to wipe out a file for good, then you will need a tool that overwrites that file right away.
Fortunately, Linux users have the shred command for wiping out files. Normally, you would have to open a terminal to use shred. But with File Shredder, you can use shred through a graphical user interface (GUI).
This app, like Authenticator and Obfuscate, is also in the GNOME Circle.
Download: File Shredder (Free)
8. VeraCrypt
Need to protect important files with strong encryption, while hiding them in plain sight? You can do all that with VeraCrypt, an app for creating and accessing encrypted file volumes.
With VeraCrypt, you can create file volumes within container files. You are free to choose the size of file volumes, as well as the container file’s file type. All file volumes must be encrypted with a strong password and an encryption algorithm.
For example, you can create a 4GB encrypted file volume hidden under a container file named Aladdin_1080p.mkv. Put the file in your Videos folder, and you have a VeraCrypt volume hidden within plain sight!
Once created, VeraCrypt file volumes can only be decrypted and mounted through the app. Users can access and write on mounted volumes like any external drive.
VeraCrypt works on Linux but is also available on Windows and macOS.
Download: VeraCrypt (Free)
9. Kleopatra
GnuPG is another reliable encryption tool for securing sensitive files and text on Linux. GnuPG is the Linux implementation of the OpenPGP encryption standard. Many Linux distributions have GnuPG installed by default.
GnuPG allows users to create OpenPGP keys. Users can use those keys to encrypt and decrypt files and text. GnuPG is normally used through a command line. But with Kleopatra, you’ll be able to use GnuPG through a GUI.
Kleopatra is one of the default applications on Tails, a privacy-oriented Linux distro. You can learn how to use Kleopatra by going through Tails’ GnuPG tutorial.
Download: Kleopatra (Free)
10. OnionShare
OnionShare is an end-to-end encrypted file-sharing app. It uses the Tor network for end-to-end encrypted file transfer.
To share files over OnionShare, you need to make sure that you can send end-to-end encrypted messages to your file recipient. Once safe communications are established, you can start adding files for sharing.
When you’re ready, OnionShare will provide you with an address and private key to send to the recipient. Once the recipient has access to the address and key, they can safely receive the files that you sent.
Download: OnionShare (Free)
Protect Your Linux Desktop With the Right Apps
All these privacy and security apps are not only powerful, but also free and open-source. They uphold a key FOSS principle—that privacy and security is a right that everyone should enjoy.
For the benefits that they bring, all these apps are just one of the many ways that Linux protects its users.
