Linux viruses

PastorWirl · 09-20-2007, 02:55 PM

Ok, since I'm slowly falling in love with Linux... I figured I'd come to the community with a question on a rumor I've heard about Linux....

Rumor:
There are no viruses that will affect a Linux-based system.

Ok community, is this rumor true or false. And no, I'm not trying to find a virus, I was just curious for my future security of systems.

THANKS ALL!!!

pljvaldez · 09-20-2007, 03:02 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...mputer_viruses

PastorWirl · 09-20-2007, 03:04 PM

Hey thank you for the info, very much appreciated.

pljvaldez · 09-20-2007, 03:10 PM

There are other basic things you can do to help secure your system, like use a firewall, stop all non-needed services, don't allow remote root login, use a program like Bastille to find vulnerabilities, etc.

tjyorkshire · 09-20-2007, 04:50 PM

. . . . I think most of the virus listed were only written to prove that they actually could be anyway.

AceofSpades19 · 09-20-2007, 05:50 PM

most of those viruses listed on wikipedia are from a few years ago or more

crenclan · 09-20-2007, 06:51 PM

I may be naive & I sure know little of linux, but I use no av or firewall on my linux rigs. I haven't been infected yet. I have 2 on mepis & 2 on fedora7. They're running 24/7. Folding at home & used for email & web surfing.

chrism01 · 09-20-2007, 07:36 PM

I'd go with not having heard of any 'in the wild viruses' on Linux in yrs.
You might want to ask a moderator to move this qn to the Security forum for more informed responses, or just have a search through there yourself.
Of course, as the Wiki points out, worms are a different qn ....

alienDog · 09-23-2007, 04:10 AM

The reasons why viruses aren't much of a problem on Linux systems (at least at the moment) are discussed at some detail for example here:

http://librenix.com/?inode=21

http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=virus