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On Thu, Feb 01, 2007 at 11:13:14PM +0000, james kilty wrote:
> My friend says:
>
> "I note also that the virus/firewall issue is under
> discussion. AVG certainly offer protection against viruses, but I'm
> uncertain about the firewall situation. Apparently the sociopaths who
> write viruses have recently taken an interest in Linux and there's some
> malware around"
>
> How should I reply? I told him I thought a router should be good as a
> firewall and Linux distros including Ubuntu had their own for each
> desktop. He will be communicating with Windows computers on his LAN so
> the AVG for Linux might be useful.
>
>
I could not see a response so I will take stab at replying. No doubt any
errors will be corrected
There are two seperate issues here
- Ensuring that the security of a linux box
In short users have to take responsibility for ensuring that their
administration of their linux box is sensible. Linux on its own can
be broken into, most of the major distros take steps to ensure that
the common weaknesses are closed.
If a user wants to remove the protections, that is possible.
Suggested solutions
- Use a NAT / router
- Use a computer firewall
- Ensure the computer is patched with all appropriate releases
- Have reasonable passwords
- Do not operate as root
- Virus and Malware
Two issues here
- Windows is a common operating system with a system of defaults
eg all documents are stored in the "My Documents" folder. All
retail boxes operate the same way. Therefore if a virus writer
spots a flaw in one computer then the probability is that all
systems will have the same flaw.
Linux is not common. Each distro (and each computer) works
differently: files will be stored in different areas and there
is no "My Documents" Folder
Therefore it is easier for a virus writer to target windows.
- Running a program on Windows is easy. Double click the wrong
pif, scr or exe file and your computer is toast. (Use the wrong
email program and evening opening the email will infect your
computer). Under Linux to really harm your computer, you have to
execute the file while running as "root".
But once your machine is set up you do not need to run as root.
Taken together, Linux virus's do not exist.
I attach some quotes
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2153723/virus-sees-across-platforms
While the virus is capable of infecting files on both platforms, it
infects files only in the current directory. Most importantly, it
does not cause any actual harm to infected systems and does not
self-propagate.
The ability to infect Linux systems limits the virus in its attempt
to cause harm, according to David Perry, global education director
with antivirus vendor Trend Micro.
http://librenix.com/?inode=21
A more literate and knowledgable version of what I have written
above
http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT3307459975.html
--
Henry
Sat Feb 3 11:49:19 GMT 2007
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