Hello all,

I know that it was discussed before but I need details.
I was asking if viruses existed in linux and someone proposed me to read an article ( hackscracks_article-6673.html in linuxsecurity.com ). But isnt the article making a mistake by mixing Viruses and Worms together ?
What is the difference between Worms and Viruses by the way ?
How many Viruses are there for Linux ? ( I heard 80 ?)
How many Worms are there for Linux ?
Are linux viruses as dangerous as MSwindows viruses ? Because I read in the forum that Linux viruses or worms dont cause much damage when one is not root ? So why do articles writers talk so much about viruses for Linux, if they are not so dangerous ?
I also read that there are things much more dangerous for Linux security than viruses (passwords kits etc.)

a worm is a virus that will foward itself on to other users via email. a virus is an evil little program that will self replicate like crazy. very very rare in linux

>Are linux viruses as dangerous as MSwindows viruses ?

Generally speaking, if your file premissions are properly set, a virus can be contained to a user account.

>why do articles writers talk so much about viruses for Linux, if they are not so dangerous ?

I don't know about you, but I consider any virus, worm ect. dangerous. Sensationalism is currently very much in vogue in the media, they think it's the only way to "sell copy".

>I also read that there are things much more dangerous for Linux security than viruses (passwords kits etc.)

Rootkits... These are indeed very nasty! If you ever needed a reason to keep your system updated, and well hardened this is it! Running a small program called chkrootkit should br done regularly.