Re: virusscanner
- From: Robert Hull <Robert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:45:09 +0100
In alt.os.linux.suse, on Mon 24 April 2006 09:52, m.koezema@xxxxxxxxx
<m.koezema@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In the time I used Windows, i have to use a virusscanner.
That is because Microsoft wrote special extension to things like
Internet Explorer, Outlook and Outlook Express so that they would
automatically seek out and execute any viruses linked to an email or a
web page without you actually doing anything to cause the virus to be
run.
Are there good virusscanners for Linux (free),
Yes there are, but you will only need them if you intend to relay stuff
to a Windows Box.
The simple fact is that a virus written for Linux could not run under
Linux without the user taking deliberate steps to enable it to run.
Unlike with Windows, you could not just click on a virus and allow it to
run - it would not have the necessary permissions to be executed under
Linux.
and are virussus exist for Linux?
A "proof of concept" seems to be written for Linux every four or five
years, but they all fail the acid test of what makes something a virus
- namely that it can self-replicate.
Don't forget that viruses written for Windows cannot run under native
Linux anyway - any more than any other piece of software written for
Windows would run directly under Linux without the use of a Windows
Emulator such as WINE.
One or two Internet Worms have been written with a little more success,
but they usually exploit problems that were patched months previously.
Consider the following example, first on Windows then on Linux
On Windows:
Someone sends you an email with what appears to be pictures of
your distant family but is in reality a virus with a hidden extension
(something like photos.jpg .exe)
You start up Outlook to see what emails you have received and the
preview pane is active
You highlight the email containing the attachment and - without you
doing anything else - Outlook seeks out and executes the virus.
Result: your machine is infected
On Linux:
Someone sends you an email with what appears to be pictures of
your distant family but is in reality a virus with a hidden extension
(something like photos.jpg .exe)
You start your favourite email client to see what emails you have
received with or without a preview pane.
You highlight the email containing the attachment and nothing happens
except that you see the email and the complete name of the attachment.
You decide that you would like to see the photos, so you click on the
attachment and receive a warning that this does not appear to be a jpeg
Despite this, you decide to download the file and see if you can look
at it, so you save it to disk.
You then navigate to the file and try to open it, but it will not
execute because you cannot automatically save something with execute
permissions.
You open up your favourite jpeg viewer and try to use that to open
the file and the viewer tells you this is not a jpeg and cannot be
viewed in this manner.
Finally, you say to yourself "Oh well, it must just be another Luser
trying to send me a virus!"
Result: you have wasted time, but no harm done.
--
Robert HULL
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