Sean Dennis -> Ed Hulett wrote:
 SD> Hello, Ed.

 SD> Sunday August 17 2008 at 00:15, you wrote to Mimi Gallandt:

 EH>> The nice thing about Linux is that there are no viruses or spyware
 EH>> that effect it. That and it blows Vista/XP/etc. away.

 SD> The first sentence isn't /completely/ true.

No viruses *in the wild*.

 SD> The second sentence for me is "to each their own"

Did I say anything different? My comments weren't an invitation to a OS holy war.

 SD> ...although from a system administrator standpoint
 SD> and the one who has to babysit the Windows workstations at work, they're
 SD> a PITA to keep up with.

My Win2k box has been up for several months. When I was herding Win boxen
the only problems I had were with user induced problems.

 SD> === Cut ===
 SD> From:
 SD> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_computer_viruses
 SD> (If you view the original article, there's references for nearly all of
 SD> the entries for the list below.)

Just FYI, wikipedia isn't a source I'd depend on for truth.

 SD> Threats

 SD> The following is a partial list of known Linux malware:

 SD> Trojans

 SD>     * Kaiten - Linux.Backdoor.Kaiten trojan horse[5]
 SD>     * Rexob - Linux.Backdoor.Rexob trojan[6]

Mainly "proof of concept" trojans. There is nothing in the wild.

 SD> Viruses

 SD>     * Alaeda - Virus.Linux.Alaeda[7]
 SD>     * Bad Bunny - Perl.Badbunny[4][8]
 SD>     * Binom - Linux/Binom[9]
 SD>     * Bliss
 SD>     * Brundle[10]
 SD>     * Bukowski[11]
 SD>     * Diesel - Virus.Linux.Diesel.962[12]
 SD>     * Kagob a - Virus.Linux.Kagob.a[13]
 SD>     * Kagob b - Virus.Linux.Kagob.b[14]
 SD>     * MetaPHOR (also known as Simile)[15]
 SD>     * Nuxbee - Virus.Linux.Nuxbee.1403[16]
 SD>     * OSF.8759
 SD>     * Podloso - Linux.Podloso (The iPod virus)[17][18]
 SD>     * Rike - Virus.Linux.Rike.1627[19]
 SD>     * RST - Virus.Linux.RST.a[20]
 SD>     * Satyr - Virus.Linux.Satyr.a[21]
 SD>     * Staog
 SD>     * Vit - Virus.Linux.Vit.4096[22]
 SD>     * Winter - Virus.Linux.Winter.341[23]
 SD>     * Winux (also known as Lindose and PEElf[24]
 SD>     * ZipWorm - Virus.Linux.ZipWorm[25]

 SD> Worms

 SD>     * Adm - Net-Worm.Linux.Adm[26]
 SD>     * Adore[27]
 SD>     * Cheese - Net-Worm.Linux.Cheese[28]
 SD>     * Devnull
 SD>     * Kork[29]
 SD>     * Linux/Lion (also known as Ramen)
 SD>     * Mighty - Net-Worm.Linux.Mighty[30]
 SD>     * Millen - Linux.Millen.Worm[31]
 SD>     * Slapper[32]
 SD>     * SSH Bruteforce[33]

Again, mainly "proof of concept" with nothing in the wild.

The main article the wiki entry references is based on flawed reasoning,
but this isn't the place to expand on that.

 SD> === Cut ===

 SD> However, there's less malware for Linux than Windows simply because of
 SD> the nature of the OS itself and how it operates.  Several of the
 SD> above-mentioned viruses are "proof-of-concept", but
several are in the
 SD> wild (see http://www.wildlist.org in the "Other" catagory in their
 SD> monthly listings).

There is nothing in the wild.

 SD> If Linux was truely immune, then ClamAV, AVG and Avast wouldn't exist
 SD> for the Linux platform. :)

I didn't say Linux was immune, did I?

 SD> Mainly, though, it's your servers that need protection rather than a
 SD> Linux end-user, especially mail servers.

I know that, having worked for an ISP and help keep our servers protected.

 SD> We've got AV programs on several of our BSD servers at work just for
 SD> that reason.  They're quadruple firewalled from the public Internet, but
 SD> they're all protected "just in case".

I would certainly hope so.

 SD> Now with Windows, AV software is like the air we breathe-something you
 SD> just have to have.  I also run Spybot-Search & Destroy too as a
 SD> preventative measure on my Windows machines.  That's not so much for
 SD> malware, but it lets me see what programs are trying to mess with the
 SD> registry, et al.

I would hope so. I have S-S&D and Avast! on my Windows box right now, too.

Ed

-- 
"Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap,
we should soon want bread." -- Thomas Jefferson (Autobiography, 1821)
Linux User# 416016
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