Newbie still confused about potential for virus problems on Ubuntu

[Amedee Van Gasse (Ubuntu)]

On Mon, April 27, 2009 15:42, Yoram Hekma wrote:
> On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 07:18:33PM +0200, Amedee Van Gasse (ubuntu)
> wrote:
>
>> Ed Oneill schreef:
>>
>>
>>> What is the chances of virus problem on ubuntu 8.10 if used to surf
>>> web, open e-mail and fileshare with transmission?
>>
>> None.
>>
>>
>>> Am I correct thinking the Ubuntu os is not in danger
>>>
>>
>> Yes.
>>
>>
>>> only a windows based system I would interact with is at risk
>>
>> Yes.
>>
>>
>>> and that is the reason to use virus scanners?
>>
>> Yes.
>>
>>
>>> Has anyone useing Ubuntu had virus issues
>>>
>>
>> No.
>>
>>
>>> and how would you know what are some of the possible problems if they
>>>  exist ?
>>
>> Windows viruses cannot infect Linux.
>>
>>
>> The very few Linux viruses that do exist, are not in the wild. Anyway
>> the design of Linux makes it very hard for viruses to propagate. You'd
>> have to run as root all the time. And since Ubuntu has no root...
>>
>> You should be more scared of browser exploits like cross-site scripting
>>  or clickjacking, than of Linux viruses.
>>
>
> Well, you do not need root access to do harm. Things like saved passwords
>  in browser cache, passwords for games like WOW (should be somewere in
> your .wine dir right?) and the like are interesting as well. Nowadays
> virus creators aren't that interested in trashing your system anyway (and
> you would need root access for that). Maybe you aren't very vulnarable to
> viruses in the traditional sense, but you should still exercise caution
> when dealing with uncontrolled environments (ie the internet).
>
> http://www.geekzone.co.nz/foobar/6229 is an interesting read.
>
>
> Before I get flamed, I understand that this is not really about viruses,
> and probably is hard to intercept by "scanners" like Clamav, but I just
> felt like sharing this:)

Nobody ever said that Linux isn't vulnerable to malware.
It just isn't vulnerable to Windows-style viruses, the only thing that
ClamAV scans. Linux is still vulnerable for every other type of exploit.
There are more bad things in  the world than virii. :)