From: "Patrick O'Callaghan" <pocallaghan@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, 2010/April/16 16:51
> On Fri, 2010-04-16 at 13:47 -0700, jdow wrote:
>> From: "Patrick O'Callaghan" <pocallaghan@xxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Thursday, 2010/April/15 13:31
>>
>>
>> > On Thu, 2010-04-15 at 13:02 -0700, Michael Miles wrote:
>> >> Is Fedora really that secure?
>> >
>> > Even if we limit the discussion to email viruses, that's a very complex
>> > and difficult question (to which the answer is "yes" :-). It's not an
>> > attribute exclusive to Fedora as such, but to all Unix-based systems,
>> > mainly for three reasons:
>> >
>> > 1) The mail client isn't running as root.
>> > 2) Even when running as root, Linux mail clients won't blindly execute
>> > attachments.
>> > 3) Even for executable attachments, the virus is written for Windows
>> > and
>> > won't run on Linux.
>> >
>> > Of course it's in principle possible to get past all the above
>> > barriers,
>> > so *in theory* you can have a Linux virus, assuming the user is stupid
>> > enough to run an unknown executable. As I say, I've never seen one in
>> > the wild.
>> >
>> >> I come from windows and I am amazed at how not secure windows is.
>> >
>> > See (3) above. Most viruses are written for Windows as it's the most
>> > popular platform. MS likes to pretend that's the only reason it gets
>> > all
>> > the grief, but there are other factors.
>>
>> Patrick, the best AV tool of all is a savvy user given the number of
>> social engineering attacks of late. And, at least historically, 'ix users
>> have been quite savvy about security. That makes a huge difference. A
>> single mistake running something you should not have because it looks
>> important can bust your whole day. Based on the security forums I read
>> I'd not consider Linux bullet-proof "today" - kernel null pointer
>> dereferences and mmap are your enemy du jour.
>
> Again, you're answering the wrong question. This thread is not about the
> general security or otherwise of Linux. It's about vulnerability to
> viruses.
If you are being picky regarding "virus", "trojan", etc then begone little
boy, you bother me. It does not matter one bit the means of transmission
if the system is compromised in a manner than a piece of what is
conventionally called "anti-virus software" would have prevented the
problem?
I do not consider Linux to be bullet proof for malware, particularly web
and email distributed malware, at this moment. It's pretty good. But if
it takes your personal machine down with all your records it kinda ruins
your whole day even if you have good backups. Reinstalling everything is
rather a pain in the <place upon which you sit.>
{^_^}
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