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Re: Viruses and rootkits WAS Re: weird problem with one mail account in Thunderbird....ISP or what ?



On 28/05/15 06:39 PM, Lisi Reisz wrote:
On Thursday 28 May 2015 21:42:51 Frank wrote:
On 28/05/15 04:22 PM, Lisi Reisz wrote:
On Thursday 28 May 2015 17:52:33 Frank wrote:
On 28/05/15 12:37 PM, Lisi Reisz wrote:
On Thursday 28 May 2015 17:26:31 Darac Marjal wrote:
On Thu, 28 May 2015 11:34:44 -0400
Frank <debianlist@videotron.ca> wrote:

[cut]

       One more thing on this problem:

       Are there in fact any viruses that can infect Linux systems? I
know about rootkits but I gather they are rare. But the guys at my
ISP are so insistent I am beginning to wonder

There are viruses that run on Linux. Wikipedia has a non-exhaustive
list at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_malware#Viruses

As Wikipedia points out, though, Linux tends to find it easier to
close the vulnerability that allowed the virus to run in the first
place. And, in many cases, vulnerabilities are found BEFORE they're
exploited (compare that with Windows, were someone might find a
vulnerability and start exploiting it and then no-one else might find
the same problem for some years).

Altough there have indeed been proof-of-concept viruses for Linux, I
understood that there had not yet been any in the wild.  But that is
viruses, not other forms of malware.

This problem arises when you open Firefox, not when you boot up?  And
it happens when you open Firefox, even when the computer has been
running for a while?

     It's not Firefox we're talking about ..it's Thunderbird and it only
affects one account, even though I have 3 on the same ISP.
No connection with booting - no connection with anything other
than that one account not being able to logon using IMAP.

It's the ISP security guys who are insisting in their words "the account
or perhaps your whole computer is infected".

Yes, sorry.  I meant Thunderbird.  But the questuiosn are still relevant,
since I was thinking of Thunderbird.

Lisi

    No. As is I said the problem is not related to booting in any way.

That's what I was asking.   Had there been any time (not causal link) I had an
idea... That's all.

    It
just appeared out of the blue. It now appears they had blocked that
account because their system (or they) thought/thinks it is/was
infected.  And it's impossible to deal with these guys. One of them
tried to tell me he had a masters degree in Computer Science...to which
I replied what are you doing handling complaints like this...should you
be working for Google or somebody of that nature  :)

;-)

I once told a lawyer that she couldn't do arithemetic.   She was put out and
said that she had an A in A level Mathematics.  I said that she still
couldn't do arithmetic.

Lisi


:) :)


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