Re: [Q] virus susceptibility data
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far way, someone said...
> Dear Debians,
>
> I'm looking for any kind of info on vulnerability to viruses on Debian
> and/or Linux. Pointers to anti-virus programs are also very welcome.
>
> If I can't convince some people here at work, I'm about to be told to
> disconnect from the net or use (heaven forbid!) Windows for any kind
> of internet activity beyond our firewall. And that seems to include
> sending email like this to the list. Gack!
It sounds like they're trying to give you an excuse to make life easier
for Microsoft administrators by getting rid of Linux.
The fact is that viruses are almost unheard of on Linux. I've only heard
of 2 Linux-specific viruses in the last 3 years; neither has been seen
since 1997. Viruses are really only a concern on Windows systems where
there is no security (or the security mechanisms are set very lax by
default with no one around to know to tighten up the system...) to keep
any program from doing anything they want to the computer.
There are antivirus programs that run under Linux - McAfee (now Network
Associates) makes one, for example. However, due to the lack of
Linux/UNIX viruses, these anti-virus programs are meant to be run on
servers - mail servers, file servers, or anything else that has to
interact with Windows PCs.
The biggest problem relating to "viruses" on Linux is running untrusted
scripts on your machine, just like on Windows. However, there is one very
important differece between Linux and Windows in this regard: unlike
Windows email programs, Linux email programs *do not* execute programs
recieved as attachments automatically - you need to 1) save the program to
disk and 2) manually execute it before any damage can be done.
--
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Phil Brutsche pbrutsch@creighton.edu
"There are two things that are infinite; Human stupidity and the
universe. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstien
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