__/ [ Kevin Verma ] on Saturday 06 January 2007 05:01 \__
> On Jan 6, 2:36 am, Tom Wiley <nowh...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> I was using Stumble today at noon just to pass the time and came to the
>> F-Prot antivirus site. I noticed that they have an antivirus package for
>> viruses targeting Linux, as opposed to the common one that checks emails
>> and files so that a Linux server won't pass malware on to/from a Windows
>> platform.
>>
>> Ok. Linux is not absolutely proof against viruses. You COULD download a
>> "neat looking" screensaver installer, make it executable, start it and
>> hose your home directory. But very unlikely unless the user is really a
>> noob or surfs as root, in which case he is brain dead (kind of like a
>> person who will buy Vista - really REALLY brain dead).
>>
>> But looking further at the fprot page, it states that they detect and
>> protect against over three hundred thousand Linux viruses. Not Windows
>> viruses passed on by a Linux server - but Linux viruses!
>>
>> From the web site.
>> -----
>> F-PROT Antivirus for Linux was especially developed to effectively
>> eradicate viruses threatening workstations running Linux...
>>
>> F-PROT for Linux Workstations features:
>>
>> * Scans for over 357944 known viruses and their variants...
>> -----
>>
>> Say what?? Known by whom? I have never seen even one real Linux virus,
>> let alone a third of a million.
>>
>> To paraphrase some unknown person. "The antivirus community is busily
>> expanding for the benefit of the antivirus community."
>
> Good catch Tom,
>
> I am sure there has to be better addressing of the virus issues. There
> are not really much viruses for Linux, at-least I never came across
> more than 2, those two back in 2001 or 2002. Noted I am using (only)
> Linux for all my work and for production since 1999.
>
> Cheers,
> Kevin
You could probably relate this to dramatic license and scare factor, e.g.:
Piracy figures are inflated say criminologists
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35580
I can recall my dad telling me that the computer had a virus about 6 years
ago. The Compaq laptop came with McAfee AV and after the licence expired it
would have popups with scary caricatures of viruses saying that "your
computer is in danger".
Nothing motivates people more than fear. Just look at Bush's WMD and
Microsoft's anti-Linux crusades.
--
~~ Best wishes for the new year!
Roy S. Schestowitz | GNU is Not Universal (begin recursion)
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU/Linux ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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