8.04 still a fine version

[Robert Holtzman]

On Wed, 7 Apr 2010, Basil Chupin wrote:

> On 07/04/10 16:58, Robert Holtzman wrote:

>> I don't pretend to be an authority on security but from what I
>> understand malware can take advantage of holes in applications without
>> having to crack the system password. Anyone want to correct me?
>>
>
> I am not a security expert either but what makes Linux 99.9999% more
> secure than the "other" [ugh!] is that to do any damage to the system
> one has to execute a program as ROOT - this is what the OP really meant
> by the reference to 'password and name'. If some malware does get thru
> and somehow gets activated then the only damage it may be able to do is
> only to whatever is the user's HOME directory; want to do anything
> outside your own HOME directory you need become root (using sudo for
> example) and then also provide a password.

That's the standard story when speaking of linux security and it's 
correct as far as it goes. The problem for a home user is that if your 
home directory where you keep personal data gets corrupted/trashed by 
malware and you don't have a ***recent*** backup you have a big problem. 
It's not a big deal to reload the OS and software but unbacked up 
personal data can be lost.

-- 
Bob Holtzman
Key ID: 8D549279
"If you think you're getting free lunch,
  check the price of the beer"