looking at laptops

[Matrix Mole]

On Dec 11, 2007 9:25 AM, Josef Lowder <joe at actionline.com> wrote:
> Can you (or anyone) provide a list of viruses (virii)
> that are known to have worked to cause damage on Linux
> distros (Ubuntu and others)?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_computer_viruses - First
result on a google search for 'linux virus'

Granted, most (if not all) of the items on that list are no longer a
threat to a modern well-patched system, but it's still proof that
virii can and have existed in the linux system. Most of the items
there also take advantage in vulnerabilities of other systems on the
box (such as Bind buffer overflow, etc), and if those programs aren't
installed it's not an issue to worry about.

Also, I think most of the rootkits that people use for backdoors could
be seen as a virus-like behavior in the same sense that most spyware
rootkits many windows systems as well. The fact that there are many
rootkit checkers available on the net for various linux systems (and
I'm sure most distro's would include their own, I know gentoo does)
would help prove that such software can and does exist on the linux
platform.

As for there being no virus scanner for linux, McAffee has a command
line scanner for *nix based systems, and freebyte also has some
antivirus software that supposedly works on linux. Also, f-prot,
bitdefender, and clamav all exist in the gentoo portage selection in
app-antivirus which indicates that quite a few antivirus systems do
exist on the linux platform.

I do agree though, we shouldn't hold it against a company that didn't
do a minimal bit of research and who just declared that the OS is
virus free. It's a marketing strategy, since on a well-patched system
it's highly likely that there are no known infections an average
everyday user will need worry about.