[clue-tech] Viruses, Trojan Horses

[grant]

> 
> So .... Linux can have a similar affect as ILOVEYOU virus IF: someone
> runs it AND its written to wipe out your home directory, just not to the
> extent as Winders stuff because of permissions and smarter users.  But,
> potentially, Linux and Windows users are in roughly the same boat, it
> just depends on your habits which determine whether you get infected or
> not.
> 
> Kevin
On Love Bug, yes.  However, this is because the user had to run it.  Many
of the nasty ones that you never even saw (virus spreading to other
executables, things running on your machine without you having any way to
tell) cannot happen.  Give it a 1/4 as likely to be affected, since only
trojan horses and worms can be, and not really viruses.

Remember, for anything to survive, the reproduction rate has to be higher
than the attrition rate.  Linux is generally not a very hospitable
environment, so this explains why there are no current virus threats in
the wild.  There was a virus once, but it died off quick.  Most virus
scanners for Linux look for winders viruses on your Samba shares or being
passed around through Sendmail by winders mail clients.