linux and viruses

im_ka · 02-07-2004, 09:46 PM

this might be a stupid question, but (as a newbie) i wanna clear this up.

is there any danger of getting a virus using linux?

i mean, i'd say no 'cause not much can be done without a root password. is it really this simple?

greetz

DrOzz · 02-07-2004, 10:00 PM

do a search on the site if you want more detail then what i am going to say, because this question is asked all the time, and you can see other comments ...

anyways, there is basically not a big danger of you getting a virus

last i checked, there was approx. ~80 viruses that existed ... so the threat is not really there, but regardless you should never take security lightly ;-)

enigma99n · 02-13-2004, 06:12 PM

there are viruses for linux - but nowhere near the amount that winodws has. if you want you can d/l clamav through yum. just add this line to your yum.conf:

[fedora.us-stable]
name=Fedora.us Supplemental Packages (Stable)
baseurl=http://download.fedora.us/fedora/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/yum/stable/

and at command prompt type:
yum install clamav

run it every now and then and use the 'freshclam' command to keep updated.

there is documentation at clamav.net