Re: [Sheflug] linux viruses

[David Holden <xxxxx [at] xxxxxxxx>]

Hi Alex, thanks for your clarification it makes sense to me,

 Sophos web site defines viruses as some code that can self-replicate, 
that has a payload action (I guess this is the thing that does the damage).

 I'm sure this is not so easy on linux and like you say is reduced to 
trojans, worms and hacks preying on system vunerabilities, still 
anything that helps you identify these things is useful in my book.

 cheers,

 Dave.


Alex Hudson wrote:

>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.
>
>

-- 
Dr. David Holden. (Systems Developer)
Email:     dh--removeme- [at] -removeme--iucr.org
Address:   5 Abbey Square, Chester CH1 2HU, England
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fax:       +44 1244 314888
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Thanks in advance:
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