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Re: [Sheflug] linux viruses



On Mon, 2002-03-04 at 18:54, David Holden wrote:
> How true is this?, sophos virus scanner runs on linux an seems to 
> have records of server linux viruses?

Okay, definitive (ish) answer here for you.

Firstly, there is currently no such thing as a Linux virus, technically
speaking. HOWEVER, you can and do get worms and trojans: see Lion,
Ramen, etc. Worms and trojans are not viruses as such, but that really
depends on your definition of virus: I _would_ call them viruses, in the
same way that I would call a cracker a hacker, but many wouldn't agree
with me.

Okay, there are virus scanners for Linux. The primary purpose of these
tools is to scan incoming mail for viruses, and that really means
Windows. You're not going to get a Linux virus through the mail, even if
you manage to get Outlook to run under Wine :) 

The stuff you want to look out for, then, is trojans, worms and hacks,
which all feed off the same thing: vulnerabilities. Keep your system
up-to-date (security.debian.org will keep your Debian rock solid if you
apt-get in a cron... ;), and you'll be fine. It's a lot like updating
your virus database, except this is a bit more pro-active ;)

Cheers,

Alex.


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