i heard that linux has very strong security and does not really need antivirus programs.?

Question

so lets say i went on this site with trojan's for linux then will i not be infected cause of linux's security.

Answer 1

Taken From

http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/



If your computer shuts itself down without asking you, if strange windows with text you don't understand and all kinds of advertisements appear when you don't ask for them, if emails get sent to all your contacts without your knowing it, then your computer probably has a virus. The main reason for this is because it runs Windows.



Linux hardly has any viruses. And that's not like "Oh well, not very often, you know". That's like "If you've ever heard of a real Linux virus, please tell me". Of course, a Linux virus is not impossible to get. However, Linux makes it very hard for this to happen, for several reasons:



Most people use Microsoft Windows, and pirates want to do as much damage (or control) as possible: therefore, they target Windows. But that's not the only reason; the Apache web server (a web server is a program located on a remote computer that sends web pages to your browser when you ask for them), which is open source software, has the biggest market share (against Microsoft's IIS server), but it still suffers from much fewer attacks/flaws than the Microsoft one.



Linux uses smart authorization management. In Windows you (and any program you install) usually have the right to do pretty much anything to the system. If you feel like punishing your PC because it just let your precious work disappear, you can go inside the system folder and delete whatever you want: Windows won't complain. Of course, the next time you reboot, trouble begins. But imagine that if you can delete this system stuff, other programs can, too, or just mess it up. Linux doesn't allow that. Every time you request to do something that has to do with the system, an administrator password is required (and if you're not an administrator on this system, you simply can't do it). Viruses can't just go around and delete or modify what they want in the system; they don't have the authorization for that.



More eyes make fewer security flaws. Linux is Open source software, which means that any programmer in the world can have a look at the code (the "recipe" of any program), and help out, or just tell other developers "Hey, what if blah blah, isn't this a security flaw?".





LUg.

Answer 2

Linux security can be hardened to the point is can actually be useless. As far as virsus go there are several. Hackers do not like to attack Linux because it is a hackers dream with all the software it has to offer.



This is what hits Linux and MAC computers:



Look at this list LINUX and MAC is not 100% Immune!



Trojans



Kaiten - Linux.Backdoor.Kaiten trojan horse

Rexob - Linux.Backdoor.Rexob trojan



Viruses



Alaeda - Virus.Linux.Alaeda

Bad Bunny - Perl.Badbunny

Binom - Linux/Binom

Brundle

Bukowski

Diesel - Virus.Linux.Diesel.962

Kagob a - Virus.Linux.Kagob.a

Kagob b - Virus.Linux.Kagob.b

MetaPHOR (also known as Simile)

Nuxbee - Virus.Linux.Nuxbee.1403

OSF.8759

Podloso - Linux.Podloso (The iPod virus)

Rike - Virus.Linux.Rike.1627

RST - Virus.Linux.RST.a

Satyr - Virus.Linux.Satyr.a

Staog

Vit - Virus.Linux.Vit.4096

Winter - Virus.Linux.Winter.341

Winux (also known as Lindose and PEElf)

Wit virus

ZipWorm - Virus.Linux.ZipWorm



Worms



Adm - Net-Worm.Linux.Adm

Adore

Cheese - Net-Worm.Linux.Cheese

Devnull

Kork[37]

Linux/Lion

Mighty - Net-Worm.Linux.Mighty

Millen - Linux.Millen.Worm

Ramen worm

Slapper

SSH BruteforceSource(s):



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lin...



There are programs you install in Linux to help prevent these things from happening

Answer 3

Ah so many ill informed people!

Yes it is true that the more popular platforms are more lucrative to attack. Do you think hackers don't do this for pride too. They would love to hack Linux on a large scale (infect even).

Do you know that every application comes from a trusted source. ie a repository.

Users are told when their passwords are weak.

During normal use a Linux machine doesn't give a user (a virus acting as a user) root access so cannot make system changes.

Some things are difficult to explain and I am certainly not an expert. You should read articles via google. There are lots of them.



Put it this way: viruses are not something Linux users have to worry about. And there are better for dealing with them and preventing them.



http://librenix.com/?inode=21

Answer 4

Completely untrue. Years ago, before Windows became so prevalent, there were plenty of Unix infections and malware floating around.



Linux and Mac OS are no more secure than Windows. The thing is that writing malware is a business, and they want to infect as many machines as possible. That's why Windows is targeted - more machines, and the average user is less savvy than Linux users. If you go to a site with trojans for Linux and aren't running an AV product and do something stupid, you'll get infected.

Answer 5

it is not security of linux, it is that people don't like to make viruses for linux because not a lot of people use it...same thing with MACS. Windows it the dominant OS so that is their target.

Answer 6

There are over a billion viruses for Windows, and only about 200 for Linux.