Re: linux safe from viruses?

[Raj Mathur <raju@xxxxxxx>]

And of course since many people (including me) make their VFAT Winduhs 
partitions user-mountable in Linux, it is theoretically possible for s 
Linux virus to attack a user, mount the Winduhs partition and destroy
the data on it.

Come to think of it, that won't be such a bad idea!  Anyone wanna help 
me in writing one?

- -- Raju

>>>>> "Atul" == Atul Chitnis <achitnis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

    Atul> On Sat, 31 Jul 1999, rahul nanda wrote:
    >> I would like to know whether linux is safe from virus attacks?

    Atul> This is a common question, and answered often, so maybe a
    Atul> glance at the archives would help.

    Atul> Let me make this clear - the concept of a "virus" is largely
    Atul> a Windows/DOS based one, since these operating systems do
    Atul> nothing to protect a user from system damage by a malicious
    Atul> program.

    Atul> Under *nix (and all responsble operating systems), the
    Atul> concept of permissions prevents a malicious program from
    Atul> damaging the system (unless, of course, you chose to run
    Atul> apps as root, in which case you have no protection at all).

    Atul> To prove this to yourself, log in as an ordinary user (not
    Atul> root), and run

    Atul> rm -f /etc/passwd

    Atul> which will fail.

    Atul> Also, because *nix prevents low level disk access, you can't
    Atul> get hit bys something "going down to the metal" either.

    Atul> Of course, all this assumes Linux is in charge. A Virus that
    Atul> activates when you are running Windows can destroy your
    Atul> linux partition (as we recently witnessed when the CIH virus
    Atul> triggered and wiped out someone's disk - Linux and all).

    Atul> Atul

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