Re: [orca-list] is there a need for anti virus and or anti spyware programs in ubuntu linux?

[Thomas Ward <thomasward1978 gmail com>]

Hi Krishnakant and all,

I think the real issue regarding Linux vs Windows in terms of security
has to do with the design. Linux, like Unix before it, was designed to
handle hundreds of users on large scale networks by implementing user
permissions. Windows on the other hand started out with very little
security. User accounts, user permissions, etc has been bolted on
after the fact.

Windows 3.1, for example, had absolutely no security at all, and
clearly wasn't designed for a large scale networked environment.
Windows 95 was suppose to be able to handle multiple user accounts,
but   turned out to be extremely lax in security. In fact, it was
possible to press escape at the user login screen and have access to
the admin account. Not to mention no real way to set user permissions.
Windows 2000/XP were better with handling multiple user accounts, but
the average Joe installed the OS, setup an admin account, and never
ran the OS with a standard account.Therefore because people often ran
2000/XP as admin all the time viruses had  free reign of the OS and
could do whatever they wanted. Finally, after years Microsoft has
added User Account Control to Windows 7 that is suppose to work like
user permissions, but since most software hasn't been designed for UAC
compliance it causes problems for end users. In short, Windows
security has always been behind Mac OS, Linux, you name it, and its no
wonder viruses, worms, spyware, and other forms of malware attack
Windows. The security just hasn't been there to prevent people from
infecting Windows machines with malicious software let alone other
security issues.

Cheers!


On 7/11/12, Krishnakant Mane <krmane gmail com> wrote:
> Yet, there is a difference, and a fundamental one at that.
> Mac OS, Android, Linux and obviously Unix follow the POSEX standard.
> Add to it the concept of chmod and root accounts, even the sudo concept.
> Virus is a shear concept introduced by Windows and the likes.
> I don't know how successful people hvae been with mac viruses, but even
> after all the anti virus and stuff we can't ensure security of windows.
> Firstly FOSS implies transparency and source code being open for both
> good and bad people.
> For M$ it is generally the saitans who get their way around and we are
> helpless.
> Back-door entries and viruses are very easy in windows because there is
> no one to look at the source code and no one except M$ to change it.
> Happy hacking.
> Krishnakant.