More Linux virus FUD from Network buttociates

Linux - the new target for threats? Christopher Bray Nov 30 2005

.. the dominance of MS Windows, particularly as a desktop operating system, meant that few virus writers focussed on Linux. The use of Linux as an operating system has increased considerably .. virus writers have "taken up the challenge" and viruses written specifically for Linux are gaining momentum.

Currently there are more than 100 known viruses that target Linux and it is likely that this number will increase as the use of Linux itself grows ..

Other threats make use of UNIX shell scripts (a type of code that when embedded in a message, may be used to perform potentially damaging tasks unauthorised by the user) that are supported on most Linux distributions.

Tp get a shell script to work under nix. Start up a command shell. Login as root. Copy the script to a directory. Change mode on the script to execute. Type the exact name of the file preceeded by .

While the growth of Linux threats has been rather slow, there has been an increase in sophistication from Linux virus writers. The W32-Etap.d virus for example ..

Can this virus do any damage without root access ? Does the operator need to take steps such as above to run it ?

.. A typical example of this is the recent buffer overflow vulnerability in Sendmail, a widely deployed mail transfer agent that is included in many UNIX and Linux systems ...