Alan McKinnon wrote:
On Thursday 27 March 2008, Dale wrote:
Florian Philipp wrote:
This is getting OT but I still want to ask:
Is it really necessary to run an anti-virus on linux? I just want
to hear some opinions on that topic because I thought security
fixes for your software are the way to go for fighting virae on
linux.
I have not ran a anti-virus here for years and no problems so far. I
don't think Linux has this problem except for the rootkit thing. It
seems Linux is just pretty much immune to this sort of thing.
Not really immune as such, just well protected. It's very hard to gain
remote access as a user and then find an exploit to elevate to root
priviledges. The devastation wrought on the internet by zombie windows
machines is by and large not really possible on Linux to anything like
the same degree - if an attacker dupes a user into running some malware
it tends to run as the user which limits what the malware can do i.e.
no ports open below 1024 etc etc.
BUT some points to keep in mind:
1. Linux us still small fry in the desktop market, and not really a
target for malware scumbags. Why should they? It's much harder to do
especially when Redmond's finest code in the wild is such juicy low
hanging fruit. This is bound to change, just a matter of time
2. There are some Linuxes out there that run everything as root.
Xandros, I'm especially looking at you here. Apparently the Xandros
devs like the way Redmond does things, right down to the brain dead
design decisions <sigh> human stupidity is apparently boundless
3. If an attacker gains access to your machine, he can trash your
personal stuff just for spite. This is catastrophic to the average user
even though it leaves the rest of the internet just as it was
True, but I did say 'pretty much'. Nothing is completely immune. A old
Commodore Vic-20 can be hacked if you can connect it to the net.
Although it is not fast enough to do much harm. LOL
I also agree that as Linux grows, so will the people trying to hack
them. As long as there are people using Linux that don't keep there box
fairly secure, it will happen. I don't think it will be as easy as the
finest Redmond software but they will try. If nothings else, they will
try common passwords and there will always be some idiot with their
password set to love, sex, god and other easy to guess ones. I like my
password tho. It's numbers and letters and has no meaning whatsoever.
Not even a birth date in it.
I was not aware of #2. Sounds like a bunch of Redmond whatabees. o_O
Dale
:-) :-) :-)
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