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[nashtrik]

If Linux operating system has an open source code,how come no one has ever been able to write virus/malware for it...theoretically,it should be easy to write a virus if the inside-out working of an operating system is known....?????:) :P

[Mark Phelps]

You're making a presumption that there are no viruses or malware that affect Linux OSs. There are -- it's just a lot harder to make them work (due to the inherently more secure nature of the Linux kernel) and they are a lot rarer.

But, if anyone tells you that Linux is virus-proof, they are wrong.

[coffeecat]

Thread moved to The Community Cafe.

[Dragonbite]

The other things is exploits can be found by community members as well as malware writers. The difference is whether they are alert those to patch and fix it, and those that would look to exploit it.

A 6 month release cycle also makes for a moving target. Each time there is a security update, that update is automatically rolled up into the next distribution release so even if you don't patch your 10.04 release, if you upgraded to 10.10 or 11.04 then that patch has been applied by default.

This is compared to people using XP that may or may not have had all of its patches installed in the almost 10 years it's been out!

Linux users update more often.

[thenixedreport]

Viruses aren't as much of a concern. Most attempts against a *nix-based machine are hijacking attempts in which an outsider attempts to remotely take over the machine through trojans or other means. While Ubuntu and other operating systems that use the Linux kernel aren't vulnerable to certain Windows exploits, it's still up to the user to keep their machine safe and secure.

[lisati]

Malware for Unix and Unix-like systems has been known to happen.

Seeing this thread reminded me of a piece of malware* that I first read about back in the late 1980s and that was dealt with a long time ago. It was a worm that targeted sendmail on Unix systems.


*note: "malware" is a generic term for malicious software, and includes viruses, trojans, and other potentially nasty stuff.