Viruses invaders?

[Eric2.0]

I was wondering if some thought that Linux could suffer if it ever became mainstream like Windows. What I mean is, when Linux gets popular, will it then become an easy target for viruses and lose it's 'anti virus' appeal? Something tells me that it would be easy to hack Linux with viruses if it ever became mainstream and not many good Anti virus programs exists for Linux. I kinda hope Linux stays where it's at, because I like the 'safe from viruses' appeal.

This is my third week of running Mint 17.1 Rebecca and I absolutely love it. Haven't had to update since day one, no crashes, it does everything I have to do, it loads fast, gets no virus, no pop-ups.... It is totally rock solid so far.... However I feel afraid if it ever picks up, then it'll become an easy target for hacking.... Hope not, then it wouldn't matter if you ran Windows or Linux at that point.

Thoughts? No fights please.... I know this could become controversial

[JusTertii]

I think most virus problems come from operator stupidity. As security becomes more and more important in terms of software design, my opinion is that the number of security holes will be reduced, or that they become more and more difficult to exploit. If this is the case, then a linux-based os will have an advantage over a windows-based one because it, by nature encourages the operator to become familiar with how it runs.

There are already lots of stupid ways you can break your linux through the shell -- have a quick read of the guide here to get the gist of it -- but most of them seem to rely on operator ignorance. As long as you use common sense, odds are you'll be fine (same as Windows, imho).

But, if you're paranoid (or have sensitive data, or whatever), I'd suggest here as a good starting guide for ubuntu (and thus mint) security.

Just my 5 cents worth -- and I'm by no means a security pro (quite the opposite, in fact).

[Buzzsaw]

Yes, if Linux becomes very popular, viruses will be written for it. But I doubt it will ever become popular enough. Mac OSX is far more popular than Linux as a desktop operating system, but there still isn't any virus threat for Macs.

Also it's harder to write viruses for Linux, because Linux is much more secure than Windows, e.g. a password is needed to edit any part of a Linux operating system other than the user's home folder.

[MartyMint]

There are security issues beyond just viruses (exploits, spoofing, phishing)...

[Reorx]

I think the safety in Linux lies in it's ability to rapidly respond to fix vulnerabilities... and while you are correct that Linux is not a large enough target in the desktop market, it rules the roost for web server OSs... so it IS a large enough target that you know that malware writers all over the world have been trying to infect Linux systems... haven't heard of a lot of success on that topic though...

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[fraxinus_63]

Should desktop Linux become more mainstream it will certainly be targetted more by hackers. The strength of its security architecture will make it a tough target compared with Windows but I think criminals might try quite different approaches based on deceiving the user. For example, we might see attempts at hacking or 'impersonating' repositories, mirrors and package archives, so that unsuspecting users end up installing malware from 'trusted' sources.

[monkeyboy]

Thoughts? No fights please.... I know this could become controversial.

Not controversial just done to death.

[Buzzsaw]

That pie chart doesn't make sense. How can 46.3% be 'Linux', but not include CentOS, Fedora etc.? Is that supposed to mean the Linux kernel on its own? How does that work? And Fedora and all the others aren't considered 'Linux'? What?

[Reorx]

My guess is that instead of "Linux" it should say "other/unspecified Linux" because obviously over 96% of the pie is Linux of some flavor or another...

Perhaps this is more representative (generically) of the actual picture >>>

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