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On Sun, Oct 30, 2011 at 3:18 PM, Neil Winchurst wrote: > I am always careful anyway, but I have always thought that such viruses will > not run in Linux. Is that true? I do not have any Windows computers at all > so I feel safe, but perhaps I shouldn't. In general, you are (a lot) safer using Linux and with a piece of Windows malware you can be all but certain it won't run under Linux. That's mostly because Linux usage is so much smaller than that of Windows; now that Macs have become popular, Mac malware is on the rise too. However, it is good to know more and more malware does not depend on the operating system you're running. Malicious Facebook or Twitter applications for instance: they usually trick you into clicking a link that effectively enables the app and then they will start spamming your contacts and/or send your personal details to the attackers. Also, phishing scams, where you are presented with a copy of a legitimate website and are tricked into entering your username and password, do not require you to run a particular operating system. It's good to be aware of that. This particular email is a hoax though. A new variant of one that has been going around for many years. The vast majority of current malware is written with a financial motivation behind it. From a financial point of view, there's little point in destroying a hard disk. (Fake Facebook invitation/notification spam is quite prevalent though. Most recent examples I have seen, however, simply took you to a fake pharmacy website though. Fake Flash plugins are also common; these do usually attempt to install malware on your machine.) Martijn. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq