There are no GNU/Linux virii whatsoever. A few worms exist, but their impact has been minimal. There have been a number of competitions (with cash prizes) to write virii for GNU/Linux, but nobody has ever succeeded. Most of the stuff that exists in the press regarding virii in GNU/Linux is the result of ignorance or malice (e.g. from antivirus vendors trying to make money). The virus scanners that do exist for GNU/Linux are made to detect Windows virii. This can be placed on a GNU/Linux server to prevent Windows client machines from being infected.
On Wed, 26 Dec 2001 10:51:06 +0800, "Anuerin G. Diaz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > linux (kernel and supporting utilities) is a huge application and thus can be > exploited by anybody patient, analytical and determined enough to cause misery > on others. the only good point is that such persons will have to work harder > to do damage in linux as exploitable flaws are found first by the contributing > community before major damage is done. if ever there comes an exception and > somebody creates a bug for linux, a patch could be made ASAP but the computers > infected will already be hit. > > linux may attract more virus writers as it is becoming more popular. but that > only proves that we should be forever vigilant whenever sensitive data is > concerned. anyway you have better chances safeguarding your data in linux than > in windows but that is my opinion alone. > > macro viruses wont be prevalent in linux until such a time when the developers > of office-related applications start implementing support for self-executing > macros. that goes to say that your data is safe as of this time. for how long > is a question. > > ciao! > > > [ � � N � � i � J�� ]� wrote: > > > Robin, Mandrake-group: > > > > Thank you for your comments. I do not know much about linux. I am > > a fisheries biologist and have been stuck to msoft for years. I > > have several gigabytes of compressed articles, data analyses, > > mathematical simulations, references, etc. on MSoft file formats. > > Bad. I am trying to, gradually, migrate to linux (I choose > > Mandrake out of several distributions I tested). > > > > The virus issue is of great concern to me. Profesionally, *I am* > > those files (years of work). > > > > I have read some viruses could attack linux systems and more are > > expected to come. I do not know well the internals of linux but, > > can you be sure of ... say ... a "macro" virus (such as those > > which destroy the MSWord .doc format+contents) is impossible to > > make for a linux system running ... say ... StarOffice ? > > > > Cheers, > > > > ---- > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ةE�n� - ��T�i� - N�sT��] > > ---- > > Wednesday, December 26, 2001, 2:20:11 [Islas Canarias, GMT]. > > ---- > > > > robin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> escribi� [25/12/2001, 12:39]: > > > > r> For a workstation you shouldn't need antivirus software - it's normally > > r> only necessary for servers where people are uploading stuff like Word > > r> documents (e.g. someone using MS Word on a virtual drive could in theory > > r> infect their files on that drive). > > > > r> A virus, in the strict sense of the word, can't do much, if anything, on > > r> a Linux system. As someone (on this list?) pointed out, to infect a > > r> linux box with a classic e-mail ploy, you'd have to do something like > > this: > > > > r> Dear user, > > r> Please copy the attached file foo to your home directory, or better > > r> still, if you have root priveleges, somewhere like /usr/bin. Then type > > r> chmod a+x foo. Hit return, type ./foo and hit return again. > > > > r> There are a few worms that can get into a Linux system, but again you > > r> should only be worried if you're running a server - for normal > > r> workstation purposes, it's enough to set security on Mandrake to > > "medium". > > > > r> Robin > > > > r> [ � � N � � i � J�� ]� wrote: > > > > >>Mandrake-group: > > >> > > >>I wonder whether > > >> > > >> � an antivirus is mandatory for Mandrake > > >> > > >>and, if positive, > > >> > > >> � which one is recommended. > > >> > > >>Is there any good open source antivirus (for workstations) ? -- Sridhar Dhanapalan "If I understood the GNU make syntax correctly (which is possibly not the case - GNU make is possibly the only example of "overkill" to rival GNU emacs), this looks like a reasonable idea." -- Linus Torvalds
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