That have access to pre-rolled virus and worm scripts. Add a poor security model and you have an exploit. On UNIX, the same kids usually have to work by first principles and they have neither the will, the patience or the experience. Those that do are already sysadmins and probably making money doing something useful.
Doesn't exploit code get published for UNIX too? I think the people that scaire me most are those with the will, the patience and the experience.
It is not impossible, but hard. And it doesn't provide the same instant gratification kick that windows does. There's millions of downloads of Linux and Solaris source. Where are the thousands of exploits? Even with the source code, there is not the will
What's missing is not the will but the uniformity that you get from windows, tens of millions of machines that all have the same binary compatible exploits. How can you release a worm that runs on thousands or even tens of thousands of machines, when you have windows out there. What sort of masochist would bother.
http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/morris-worm.html
Everyone mentions the morris worm. It's a poor example from an era where most UNIX boxes didn't even have a root passwd. Security didn't matter then. It does now, unless you run Windows.
Yes, and how many Sendmail servers are running now, today, that have been cracked and exploited (spammers not included?!). Right now? Today?
Sorry - I am going to go away again now. I have had this argument far too often. I will believe what I know by my own experience and my experience is that the windows security model invites abuse and it's just too easy. On UNIX it is not impossible but takes more effort than the would be cracker will bear, unless they are determined and have a specific motive in mind, on a single unprotected host.
Nice of you to drop you opinion in and run away, i have never said that windows is secure (i am not arguing with that). I have only said that UNIX is not, and as the number of similar UNIX platforms increase so will the number of worms/viruses.
What makes UNIX so good?
--
Rachel Polanskis Systems Admin, University of Western Sydney
V1-37, Kingswood Campus (+61 2) 47 360 291 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security,
deserve neither liberty or security" - Benjamin Franklin, 1759
-- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
-- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
