Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (2803 mails)

[Anders Johansson <ajh@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wednesday 09 July 2008 19:30:44 Jim Henderson wrote:
> I've been a Linux user for nearly 12 years now.  Do I use virus
> protection?  No.  Why?  Because, like you said, it's not needed.
> However, I also am *careful* about what websites I visit and what
> programs I run.  As more and more "typical" users use Linux, *perhaps*
> this is something that will be needed.  Perhaps not.
>
> That doesn't mean it's not an option worth exploring.

What exactly do you think a virus scanner can do for you? Do you seriously 
believe it can protect against malicious code?

A virus scanner looks for well known virus code. By definition, it is only 
useful once there are known viruses to look for. Any damaging code that is not 
already well known will not be found.

Unless of course you think scanners look for all instances of "rm", or calls 
to socket() to send email, or whatever else viruses do.

Do you can safely ignore a virus scanner on your linux-only system until you 
start reading about virus proliferation, because then - and only then - will a 
virus scanner find anything.

Don't hold your breath though. As several have said already, the attack vector 
just isn't there

Anders

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