On Mon, 21 Oct 2002, ro b wrote:
This maybe a dumb question so I apologize in advance:Are there viruses for linux?Seen 'em in Macs and heard of 'em in that Windows thing.
Yes, as a matter of fact, viruses for Linux do exist, but only just a few (about 5-10 if memory serves me). Also, most of them have never been spotted in "the wild", they were mostly lab experiments to prove that Linux could be vulnerable to viruses. Another type of malicious program is worms. Media reports often confuse these with viruses. Some worms exist that attack Linux, and these have been roaming the net. Finally, I'll just mention trojan horses (or just trojans). These exist for any operating system, and the only real protection against them is only running software from someone you trust - or only running software that you have read the source code for and compiled yourself. Regards Ole