Re: [PLUG] Unix vs Dos for Virus Content

[MaD dUCK <madduck@madduck.net>]

also sprach Bevilacqua, Michael (on Thu, 08 Feb 2001 08:58:04AM -0500):
> I've heard a few things here and there about Unix vs. Dos in regards
> to virus activity where "there are no significant virui on the unix
> platform." Again, I heard something similar last night as I attended
> my first PLUG meeting. Is this due to the massive amount of binary
> compilation that Dos utilizes over a very ASCii based,  open-scripted
> and conf'd Unix?

virui? now that's a new one. i think according to recent discussion,
viruses will be the best choice.

anyway, to answer your questions - the very small number of *NIX
viruses that exist over the number of windoze ones is mainly related
to three facts:

- security: windoze has no security. on *NIX, however, receiving a
  virus will be as a user in 99% of the cases, and a user can't really
  break anything. this really concerns itself with viruses.
- automation: this is the main point against worms on *NIX. while
  micro$oft got that concept of usability slightly wrong and made
  their $oftware so "powerfully capable," the newest worms don't even
  have to be executed anymore... just looking at them will infect the
  computer. sure, on *NIX there existed a vi-autocommands exploit and
  other similar stuff, but in general it is safe to assume that there
  exists no way of getting a user to proliferate a worm by looking at
  it. furthermore, windoze provides its crappy API which everyone
  knows, so it's a standardized platform for viruses. on *NIX it's
  already hard to think about small parts of a collective number of
  systems being standardized or similar.
- popularity: society screwed up, everyone is running windoze. so it'd
  be boring to write a virus for another OS simply because it wouldn't
  have as much impact and wouldn't proliferate as fast.

there are surely others, but i think these are the main ones...

martin

[greetings from the heart of the sun]# echo madduck@!#:1:s@\@@@.net
-- 
scintillation is not always identification for an auric substance.


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