This was one of the biggest reasons I forced myself into using linux full-time for a bit, and back around 2006 there wasn't much.  Ubuntu was about the first decent desktop os system I found that worked right out of box, and remained maintainable.  For a good while at least, these days not so much...

Security is predatory with windoze, it's sad when things come to that, and it's been that way almost as long as there's been networking in 95, certainly before unknown.  They set the example for what NOT to do, but hard not to pick apart with all eyes on them.  Just look at child actors in comparison, they were there early, set the trend to build off, and eventual breakdown|crack out|win8|vista ensues in a healthy career, for a bit.

When you have 99% marketshare, it becomes an impassable target for crime and exploitation.  Living open-source comes with some inherent benefit, security through obscurity.  I'll take it, just hiding yourself behind a firewall/router/nat-box, it works almost no concern.  I still apt-get dist-upgrade occasionally (and deal with the aftermath, usually on a long weekend).

Oddly the most recent rash of exploitation for linux concerns mutable worms looking for infectable embedded firmware linux devices, looking for exposed services due to lack of updates once running, and they're common as almost every router runs it.  Linux has it's issues too, as security updates are still rather constant, with good reason.  Embedded routers and such are almost cherry-pickable if you leave them exposed and never updated.  Even openssh updates occasionally still for them.

Using netstat -anp is a good idea.  More exactly:

sudo netstat -anp | egrep 'tcp|udp' | grep LISTEN | grep -v 127

Be wary of anything listening when on a publicly routable address, or your browser if a desktop.  Always hide behind a router/nat, and don't trust hotel/wifi networks.  Audit your listening socket/ports, they're open doors to screwing your os by anyone that can hit them.  Use noscript|notscript, adblock plus, and ghostery on chrome|chromium|firefox (never ie), you're generally good even on windoze.

Many corps are adopting macs, mine included currently, that they're bound to grow as the next target.  We're adopting linux users through acquisition as well people like me living in the shadows against corporate policy, so the trend is shifting significantly that will recommit some targeting by government and criminals alike.  Google expelled windoze after targeted spearphishing/exploit by China, and it's becoming more of a trend all over.

-mb

On 02/10/2014 08:38 PM, eric oyen wrote:

well,
there are about exactly 8. There are also about 9 or 10 root kits and perhaps half a dozen trojans. Compared to windows (at last count somewhere north of 80,000 different items of malware).

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