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Hi, was wondering if there is any need for anti virus software on Mandrake Linux 8.1?
I plan to dual boot between XP and Mandrake and run a FTP server on Linux if someone uploads a file with a virus will Linux detect it? repair it?
Are there any virus's that affect linux and can damage my system?
Virus' for Linux??? none that i know of in the wild, maybe in some computer laboritory...
Linux is mostly immune to virus/trojans & Worms, there have been a few reported but they are rare, probably effecting Linux boxes with servers that have not been updated with security updates...
if your Linux box is used as a server for other windows boxes i believe there are antivirus programs to clean Windows based virus' before they get to the windows box...
since i use Linux as a workstation and there are no servers installed <eg> no apache, or any other, i do not even worry about virus'...
now there are some root kits i believe crackers and other misc cyber crooks could use to steal data and the like out there, as to how widespread they are i have no idea...
Well if you are willing to paym, then atleast F-secure (http://www.f-secure.com) makes virus scanners for linux. I have used only win version from their virus scanners (which have been good), but can't say much more about the product itself.
Thanks for the advice my main concern is someone upping a file then me booting into windows and it coming to life and recking my system which would not be good!
Dark Ninja
03-19-2002, 04:14 PM
Just use Norton (my personal favorite), and scan the files as soon as you boot into Windows. Those files won't run automatically (assuming you aren't having the people upload them into a startup directory or something crazy like that).
Dark Ninja
SuperHornet
03-19-2002, 04:14 PM
There has been several virus's for *nix.
check out Freshmeat (http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=antivirus§ion=projects)
Choozo
03-19-2002, 04:35 PM
Originally posted by pug:
<STRONG>Thanks for the advice my main concern is someone upping a file then me booting into windows and it coming to life and recking my system which would not be good!</STRONG>
If someone did upload a virus on your Linux system, it would be pretty much left helpless and abandoned there when you reboot into Windows. Windows can't really see any of the Linux partitions.
As for virus scanners, Norman has also released a Beta version for Linux. Virus scanners on a Linux system is probably only useful if you run a mail service, and want to filter out any virii attachments before you pass the mail along. BTW, there are programs one can build into sendmail for this purpose.
Cheers :)
seaman_staines
03-20-2002, 01:15 AM
F-prot makes a free commandline scanner. Tons of other free ones on Tucows. Chkrootkit is nice to have. They are all one google search away.
Spoticus
03-20-2002, 01:54 AM
Summary of the comp.os.linux.security FAQ:
At this point in time, virus Scanners for Linux are aimed at detecting and disinfecting data served to Windows hosts by a Linux file/ mailserver.*This can be useful to help stop the spread of viruses among local, non-Unix machines.**Due to the lack of viruses for Linux, there are presently no scanners (that I'm aware of)to detect viruses within the Linux OS, or its applications. Trojans present a greater threat to the Linux OS itself than do viruses, and can be detected by regularly verifying the integrity of your binaries, or by using a rootkitdetector.
Is Linux vulnerable to viruses?
In a practical sense, no.*Technically...
Due to the design of Linux, it is difficult for viruses to spread far within a system, as they are confined to infecting the user space of*the user who executes them.*Of course, this is a problem if infected files are launched by root, but as a security conscious individual, you wouldn't be running untrusted files as root, would you?
It is theoretically possible for a virus launched by a regular user to escalate its privileges using system exploits. However, a virus with this capability would be quite sizable, and difficult to write.* As of this date, few viruses have actually been discovered for Linux, and the ones that have been discovered aren't worth losing sleep over.*This will undoubtedly change with time. Viruses do exist for Linux, but are probably the least significant threat you face.
HTH :)