Viruses, trojans and the like

[BlackAdder]

Has there ever been a report of a Puppy user getting a virus, or a trojan?
Anybody had one?
After all, Puppy is getting close to his third birthday, and it would be a great achievement if no Puppy user ever had a virus in three years.

[MU]

no, never.
The "Linux-virus" that was announced somewhere here some days ago, just works with some models of the 2.6 Kernel.
So different as on Windows, you don't "avoid" damage by using a huge antivirus-database, instead you use the correct Kernel, and the problems are solved.
So different to windows (fixing symptoms) the originating weakness is solved, what avoids that derivating viruses could attack again.

german article:
http://www.pro-linux.de/news/2006/9583.html

It references this english one:
http://software.newsforge.com/article.p ... 1&from=rss

Mark

[Lobster]

As I have mentioned many times, I moved from Windows the compromised malware magnet. I was spending 30% of my time "securing" the vulnerbilitiies of XP (an OS I like)

My early time with Puppy involved no firewall - now I put the firewall on and that is it.
Security done.

Puppy2 is even more secure. Running from CD means that my base OS program and everyday programs can never be destabilised. How good is that?

Increasingly I spend my time in Alpha releases (I am in Alpha 1 of Puppy 1.0.9) and downloading and trying new software - so I am used to occasional glitches but that is another issue . . . because 109 is based on Puppy 1.0.8r1 it is already completely usable but open to change . . . firewall is there and working.

Many Windows users bring FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) with them and after a while are able to drop this non-required paranoia.

In a work situation or to run certain programs Windows may be required. I will be starting a course where Windows software is required. I have started using XP in preparation for this (not my computer which is Linux only) AVG loads on this XP computer and other stuff I no longer have to deal with . . . it will work OK

It is a big wrench to move from an enviironment that I have evolved with from DOS days . . . Unix was available even then but not realistically. Though I have tried many distros, Knoppix (Debian on HD) and Puppy have been the ones that have aided my transition to Linux. I have never come across any viruses.

Malware cleaners are available for Linux to cleanse servers that may have files created and destined for Windows computers. In other words Linux is secure and is helping secure Windows.

Hope that helps and I have not wandered off topic too far . . .

[Flash]

Don't be so smug. Spyware could exist on your computer. How would you know? I agree that a firewall is prudent, although I don't bother and as far as I know I haven't picked up any sort of malware, but how can I be certain? (A rhetorical, metaphysical question. ) Anyone who wants to read what's on my computer is more than welcome to bore themselves to tears. Just don't mess it up.

I use multisession Puppy. If I understand correctly, Barry has implemented a boot option in multisession Puppy2 which will allow specified session(s) to be skipped during boot. This feature should make multisession Puppy2 about as virus-proof as an OS could be. Rather than attempt to fortify Puppy against attackers, simply quarantine the session that contains the attack code. It's like using Jujitsu on the little bastards.

[Lobster]

Don't be so smug. Spyware could exist on your computer. How would you know?

You are right good spys are like the invisible ninja in my garden (they turned out to be foxes - just dug up my primroses but that is another story)
Where would it or could it exist and how? What you are suggesting is perhaps brain FUD? I have enough of that to keep a team of pschiatrists on 24 hour standby. I need reassurance on a daily basis . . .

Am I smug? No doubt it comes from a working computer. In fact the only chance I seem able to slow down or crash the system is by using Alpha releases but even that is more reliable then paid for dis-operating systems from Microsofat. I am using Puppy 1.09 Alpha - stable. smug again.

Yes it could exist on my computer but it doesn't seem to. Just as it is possible I am a real Lobster - rather unlikely. On Windows I did have all sorts. Some spyware is built into the OS at the behest of the NSA. Viruses were sent to me on a daily basis as attachments or web sites that activated I have no idea what. Everyone is familiar with that. I still get phishing attacks of course.

Is what you are describing a brain virus? Thinking one is being watched or observed. What would they have access to? My non existent bank account? My favourite porn site? My alchemical secrets? My time machine plans are safely housed in the future.
As you say anyone wishing to read my data is welcome to it . . .

I am using gmail - that is open to the spooks at Google (the court case is irrelevant - Google are already compromised) Do I use gmail - you betcha and I like it. My computer has a unique IP address and my browsing habits could be traced back and so on. I know all that. That is the way the Internet is and going through proxies and such holds no interest for me . . .

Viruses and trojans (the original point) are not part of the Linux experience. Are they part of yours Flash?

[Flash]

Lobster, I was only exercising my First Amendment right to shoot off my mouth,

How can I be sure if I've picked up any viruses or trojans? That was what I was trying to point out. I lumped them together with spyware and all other forms of malware in my post because to me the main difference between any of them is the intent of the cat-mutilating sub-human who wrote the program.

[ChazZTheSpazZ]

More ammunition for my Linux gun to fire at my brother... He loves Windows. I in fact used Puppy last night to delete a trojan from my Windows 98 compy. Windows couldn't, so I booted into Puppy and it was easy as pie, my antivirus had already identified the file for me. When I got that windows computer originally, it had over 200 spyware/malware files that i eradicated with Ad-Aware, and 3 trojans (only 2 of which were deleted with the antivirus). Thank you Norton (now in a state of nonexistance), that's what you get when you pay for a name and not a proper working utility.

As for Puppy, I still haven't got around to getting it on the internet. I have full confidence in it though.

[jason.b.c]

Flash wrote:
Spyware could exist on your computer. How would you know?

Not in puppy and certainly not in any other linux os, I've had this conversation before in another forum. And i had it all explained to me, the ( where, why and how ).. In fact you don't even need the firewall anyway, like firestarter in linux, it's nothing more than a frontend for something you've already got..

As far i've been told there are no linux viruses/spyware/adware out there, or at least not yet ----- Better keep your fingers crossed...

[Pizzasgood]

Thank you Norton (now in a state of nonexistance), that's what you get when you pay for a name and not a proper working utility.

Heh. My mom uses Norton, and it doesn't like us at all. The idiots who programmed it set it up so the "LiveUpdate" can't update itself. It complains that it can't update files that are in use. Well, what's the point of a "LiveUpdate" then? In order to get it to work, I have to use "end task" on all the Norton garbage (since Norton doesn't let you just exit it) before running the update program. Bah. I use AntiVir on my computer. Free, updates itself fine, works fine. It even looks nicer now, since they updated the GUI. It seriously annoys me that companies charge people for a product that barely functions, yet there are free products that are exponentially superior. If the geeks making stuff in their basements in their free time for free can make stuff that's more than decent, why can't the companies who hire professional programmers and actually make money with their products create something far better? I have nothing against paying for software or an operating system. I do have something against paying for garbage.

[/end-rant]

FYI, there have been several people who detected a virus in Puppy, but it wasn't an actuall virus, just a test file in an anti-virus program

[Flash]

... If the geeks making stuff in their basements in their free time for free can make stuff that's more than decent, why can't the companies who hire professional programmers and actually make money with their products create something far better?[/end-rant]

It's one thing to knock together a prototype that proves your idea will work but quite another to take that idea all the way to a salable product. In my experience, building the first working model takes less than 1% of the effort it takes to make a product that actually fulfils customers' expectations, This seems to be particularly true of software. Most of the software I've bought simply can't be made to do everything the claims on the box say it will do.

So, how to get everyone who can do the job to cooperate, and keep them motivated? Forming a company to produce something for sale and then hiring people to work on it is one proven way to get the job done, but there seems to be an inherent weakness in that plan, that is somewhere in management.

I'd sure like to know how the Pyramids were built.

[slvrldy17]

Where Nortons so called security/antivirus products are concerned. A large part of the reason that I've gotten involved with Linux and the Open source/free software community is the failure of Norton products to do an adequete job of keeping malware out of my computer. Add in the security holes in Windows that are an invite to hackers and the result was two clean reinstalls of Windows in six months which means that you couldn't give me Norton software - AVG and Zone Alarm do the job far better. I'm still trying to get used to the idea that most malware doesn't so far advesely effect Puppy and other Linux distros. Guess that touch of paranoia will never completely go away - more than once burned etc. So bear with us Windows refugees - trusting any OS comes hard for us.

[ChazZTheSpazZ]

I use AntiVir on my computer. Free, updates itself fine, works fine. It even looks nicer now, since they updated the GUI.

That's what I'm using. I was using etrust ez antivirus, with a one-year subscription, but i wiped my hard drive and now everything's screwey and I don't have it anymore. It's a shame, I really liked it, worked incredibly well. Also, I did a full system scan on my Windows 98 compy with AntiVir. I about screamed, there was over 20 trojans. The idiots who had this computer before me had no idea what they were doing when it came to the internet obviously. I guess that just shows how horrible Windows security is.