trojans and Ubuntu

[Derek Broughton]

Tim M wrote:

> Yesterday a friend of mine asked me about identity thief protection sites
> and she sent me a link to one asking if it was okay. I clicked on the link
> on my laptop running 10.7 (also protected with NoScript). Anyway this
> morning I was talking to my boss he is in charge of Internet security for
> a major company (I work for him part time in his own business). He said
> that if she clicked on that site she could have introduced a Trojan into
> her computer. I will not post the site address here . . . anyway, he might
> have misunderstood me or I might have misunderstood him. Now I need to
> tell my friend, who suffers from panic attacks) to reinstall her system. I
> guess I should listen to my boss . . . I am wondering what the group
> thinks about what he said and that if my system might be compromised also.

Yours, no.  Hers?  Perhaps.  Clicking on a link can only rarely introduce a
trojan, even under Windows.  These days, under Vista, it's practically
impossible to click on _anything_ without getting that annoying popup
asking if it should be allowed.  Identity theft links almost invariably
rely on you actively giving them information - they don't need to write
programs for it.  A friend's computer-savvy and highly-educated wife fell
for one of the "your account has been suspended..." scams.
-- 
derek