Re: unix and email viruses
On 02/03/2008, Douglas A. Tutty <dtutty@porchlight.ca> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I think I don't need to be worried but I figured I should check.
>
> I only run 'nix (debian, OpenBSD), and I'm on dialup. I note that some
> people run virus scanners on their email (not just as anti-spam) and
> wonder if I need to worry. I don't get enough spam (other than what
> comes from this list occasionally) to warrent doing anything about spam.
>
> I debian or other 'nix suceptible in any way to anything anybody can put
> in an email? I'm guessing that if someone comes up with something that
> can break e.g. mutt that mutt will be fixed around the same time as a
> virus scanner would be updated.
>
> Thoughts?
As mutt won't even run macros, I'd say that you are safe so long as
you don't save anything you get, chmod it (or complile it!), and then
run it with the root password. In other words, not bloody likely.
That said, don't read email as root. I heard from a different list
member about an exploit once that sent malicious emails to root. He
learned the hard way to forward all mail to an unprivledged user on
the system. I can't remember any details, just the lesson.
Know that you _can_ pass viruses on to other Windows machines. So
before you forward a letter or send it to a Windows box, make sure to
run it through ClamAV.
Dotan Cohen
http://what-is-what.com
http://gibberish.co.il
א-ב-ג-ד-ה-ו-ז-ח-ט-י-ך-כ-ל-ם-מ-ן-נ-ס-ע-ף-פ-ץ-צ-ק-ר-ש-ת
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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