Exploiting Linux vulnerabilities 8127
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On Sunday 22 January 2006 10:11, Erik Funkenbusch stood up and spoke the following words to the mbuttes incomp.os.linux.advocacy...:
JPBis Bailo? Woops, I must have missed that... ;-)
No, the premise is that, if *propogation* is more difficult, then the incidence of malware will be reduced. In particular, if the rate...
Oh, I see. Well, for me it doesn't necessarily mean "remotely", but I'll keep your wording into account here. ;-)
I know, and it is frightening how many of those pre-made tools are freely available to the public... :-
I was indeed speaking more in generic terms, yes...
You'd be correct if this were the late 80's. Nowadays, the goal of most worms is to use the target machine as part of a...
No, not at all. I apologize if that is what you interpreted from what I wrote.
GreyCloud OK, got that. Without a ~-.profile sounds nearer to what I was after. Two situations come to mind: 1) Larger scale multi-user, where the user does *not* own the...
Yes, but will they? That is the question. To do so would require a meticulousness and thoroughness not typically found amongst the willpower of most humans.
No, not immune. It does however even out the odds more.
It is always possible and very likely even that if and when GNU-Linux becomes more prevalent, it will be targeted by these villains to a much higher degree. At present however - while there is truth in what you say - I do believe that they target Windows more because it is what they themselves use and know.
Of course, they are aware that Windows is the most prevalent platform, and that most of the cracking-harbuttment tools available - they are not bright enough to write up any such tools themselves - are indeed aimed at Windows - there are also plenty of such tools aimed at attacking IRC networks, by the way.
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 00:12:46 +0000, JPB You completely missed the point. The point was that blended attacks are common now. Just because an attack would...
So yes, they know they'll be most successful when aiming for Windows. But then again, pseudo-statistically we could also say that the corporate and individualistic origin of the Windows environment breeds such villains, whereas people in the GNU-Linux community really do have somewhat of a community spirit and a mutual respect.
All of the above is of course related to script kiddies and in no way represents "professional" crackers. They have other priorities and other motives, although they too are aware of the better security of GNU-Linux - and UNIX in general - as well as the market share of Windows.
While this is true, I myself am not awaiting the big breakthrough of having GNU-Linux on every home or office desktop.
Not that I want to feed the "GNU-Linux is for geeks"-prejudice any more than it already has been, but the nature of the operating system itself does elicit that those who install it out of their own free will and are not yet IT-savvy enough will either start becoming more savvy or will abandon GNU-Linux and return to whatever they were using before that - which often leads back to Windows or the MacIntosh, of course.
Peter Quite a bit easier and more reliable than hoping third-party anti-virus software can try and repair a damaged registry, and recover other...
I personally do see the GNU-Linux market share grow, but I don't expect any extreme take-overs of the market to be happening anytime soon - or late, for that matter. The very simply reason here also being that GNU-Linux does indeed require some knowledgeability, some determination and some commitment - not to mention discipline - from the user.
Erik Funkenbusch Thought there'd be a Funkenbusch reply. Oh well, regular readers of this forum know well enough what *that* means without needing twice telling. Remind me, did...
GNU-Linux is like giving a person a few free pilot lessons. There are those who go along to satisfy their curiosity, there are those who are interested in learning how to fly, and there are those who prefer sitting on their couch, away and safe from all those airplanes.
Those who accept the free flying lessons may bail out after the first lessons have been given, because learning more would require some financial commitment - in GNU-Linux terms, this means commitment to learning to administer their system; the financial aspect was just a metaphor - and there are those who are willing to learn how to fly either way.
The latter are the ones who will be savvy enough to run their GNU-Linux operating systems and administer them in a responsible way. The former are the ones most likely to wipe out GNU-Linux again. Those who stay at home and stay clear of the airplanes are the ones who will never make the transition.
I advocate GNU-Linux because I believe in the superior quality of this operating system. I advocate Free (and Open Source) Software because I believe in the nobility and fairness of this software development model, and because it's a little realistic and tangible touch of the Utopian dream I have for society.
I don't advocate either of them out of a belief that they can or will overtake any markets. I consider any gain in marketshare a bonus. ;-)
-- With kind regards,
*Aragorn* (Registered GNU-Linux user #223157)