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I use Ubuntu 20.04.

I am aware that viruses exists for all operating systems (Linux included). However, it is rather uncommon to get infected on Ubuntu. Besides that, to avoid any malicious software, I try to install only software that is available in Software Center.

Although I use Linux for numerous years and have no viruses issues, last time, I was shocked when I've tried to attach a PPT / Powerpoint presentation and Gmail reported it as a virus. I thought that, maybe, some macro is included in it and that causes a false alarm. However, I don't see any macro (at least I cannot find them in LibreOffice Impress). To verify mentioned PPT file, I installed clamtk and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 for Linux Desktop. Both of them are not reporting any virus in the file.

I've tried to save mentioned PPT file as ODP and then again as PPT. This time, Gmail scanner was not reporting any virus.

  1. What is the best way to ensure under Ubuntu that presentation is virus free?
  2. Is there any possibility that PPT file could harm my Linux machine or is it only a thread to Windows machines?
matandked
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    Best is to not use presentations with macros. In LibreOffice you may configure security level for macros. – pasman pasmański Jan 16 '22 at 19:07
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    Did you try https://www.virustotal.com/ also? It may be a false positive. – FedKad Jan 16 '22 at 19:12
  • You reported the solution yourself: saving to odp. – vanadium Jan 17 '22 at 08:10
  • Unfortunately, numerous people saves their work in MS Office formats and are unaware of other formats. Besides that - ODP also could include viruses / macros (?) @pasman-pasmański Is the macro the only type of virus that could be included in presentation? I assume that my configuration of LibreOffice will not affect what Gmail reports - presentation was downloaded, not created by me. – matandked Jan 17 '22 at 10:04

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