[Please wrap your lines! It makes it much easier to read, and thus more likely that you'll get a response. Anywhere between 70 and 80 is acceptable; 72 seems to be a nice value.]
On Mon, Feb 02, 2004 at 08:51:03PM -0800, MJ Inabnit said > Greetings: > > I have read several opinions regarding AV for Gnu/Linux. The last one > is Rick's rant > <http://www.linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=virus>. However, > the information is dated. > > So what is the opinion now-a-days? I just read a post last week where > a new Gnu/Linux user strongly advocates AV for all new users. The ^^^ Windows users seem to have a fixation on anti-virus software. The Linux approach is to just not run crap random people send to you. I have never ever heard of a mail client aside from Outlook that will even let you run executables emailed to you without at least displaying a huge-ass warning. The other important point is that Linux (and all Unices that I'm aware of) do not consider something executable just because a file has a certain extension. To run a program, it has to have the +x permission bit set on it, which (AFAIK, but I'm pretty damn sure) is impossible for an email attachment to set. > claim was something along the line of "What if I send you an Email > with an executable attachment like [cd, rm -r]". Then you laugh at them and forward it to your linux-using friends so they can laugh at the poster as well. Unless you manually run that script, nothing will happen. Nothing at all. Also, how could a anti-virus scanner prevent you from running this? A kernel module that stops shell scripts from ever executing the "unlink()" syscall (what rm does)? > I still don't buy the claim that I need AV on my box, but I'm also > very open to sound security advice. Don't run crap random people send you. Keep up to date with updates from security.debian.org (when it's revived, anyway). Read debian-security-announce. Brush your teeth. Oh, and kudos for being skeptical :-) -- Rob Weir <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Do I look like I want a CC? Words of the day: terrorism interception Fidel Castro Aldergrove Consul Fat Man
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