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[OT]: yet another linux antivirus fairytale

April 13th, 2012 - 02:50 am ET by Raffaele Morelli | Report spam
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Hi,

an italian newspaper has published an article about security risks and
virus related issues on mac osx and obviously linux is cited.
http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/201...-frottole/

In the article the author states: "[...] First myth: There are no viruses
for Mac. In the mythology of fans, the "Big Apple" operating system would
be so solid that it can not be broken. False: Any operating system is
vulnerable to viruses. Linux users are so well aware about that they
use security software. [...]"

Another quote: "[...] the only Mac immune to viruses, ironically, are
those who have installed Microsoft software such as Word and Excel. [...]"

regards
-raffaele

*L'unica speranza di catarsi, ammesso che ne esista una, resta affidata
all'istinto di ribellione, alla rivolta non isterilita in progetti, alla
protesta violenta e viscerale. (V. Evangelisti)
*


Hi,<div><br></div><div>an italian newspaper has published an article about security risks and virus related issues on mac osx and obviously linux is cited.</div><div><a href="http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/201...t;>http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2012/04/12/sicuri-frottole/</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>In the article the author states: &quot;[...] First myth: There are no viruses for Mac. In the mythology of fans,  the &quot;Big Apple&quot; operating system would be so solid that it can not be broken. False: Any operating system is vulnerable to viruses. Linux users are so well aware about that they use security software. [...]&quot;</div>
<div><br></div><div>Another quote: &quot;[...] the only Mac immune to viruses, ironically, are those who have installed Microsoft software such as Word and Excel. [...]&quot;</div><div><br></div><div>regards</div><div>-raffaele</div>
<div><div><br></div>-- <br><i><span></span><span>L&#39;unica speranza di catarsi, ammesso che ne esista una,
resta affidata all&#39;istinto di ribellione, alla rivolta non isterilita
in progetti, alla protesta violenta e viscerale. (V. Evangelisti)<br></span></i><br>
</div>



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#1 Lorenzo Sutton
April 13th, 2012 - 04:50 am ET | Report spam
On 13/04/12 08:41, Raffaele Morelli wrote:
Hi,

an italian newspaper


where the average tech-saviness is near to zero (see the many articles
about "Facebook") or the level of fud-iness is near to 100 for
tech-related articles
has published an article about security risks and virus related issues
on mac osx and obviously linux is cited.
http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/201...-frottole/


He writes: "qualsiasi sistema operativo è vulnerabile ai virus. Lo sanno
bene gli utenti Linux, che i software di protezione li usano. **"
"any operating system is vulnerable to viruses. Linux know this well and
use protection software" [my translation]

I'm not sure what this means, the author probably read somewhere that
antiviruses do exist for linux.. but I'm not sure where he gets the
assumption that most linux users (he doesn't talk about sysadmins or
servers) use antivirus software.

In the article the author states: "[...] First myth: There are no
viruses for Mac. In the mythology of fans, the "Big Apple" operating
system would be so solid that it can not be broken. False: Any
operating system is vulnerable to viruses. Linux users are so well
aware about that they use security software. [...]"

Another quote: "[...] the only Mac immune to viruses, ironically, are
those who have installed Microsoft software such as Word and Excel. [...]"


In two words I would define it 'journalistic FUD'.

Lorenzo.

regards
-raffaele

/L'unica speranza di catarsi, ammesso che ne esista una, resta
affidata all'istinto di ribellione, alla rivolta non isterilita in
progetti, alla protesta violenta e viscerale. (V. Evangelisti)
/




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#2 Camale
April 13th, 2012 - 09:50 am ET | Report spam
On Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:41:21 +0200, Raffaele Morelli wrote:

Hi,



Hi.. please, turn html off, thanks.

an italian newspaper has published an article about security risks and
virus related issues on mac osx and obviously linux is cited.
http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/201...-frottole/

In the article the author states: "[...] First myth: There are no
viruses for Mac. In the mythology of fans, the "Big Apple" operating
system would be so solid that it can not be broken. False: Any operating
system is vulnerable to viruses. Linux users are so well aware about
that they use security software. [...]"



And that stanza is rapidly becoming more valid as time goes by. And
indeed, Linux users use a lot of "security" software, starting from
iptables (embedded in the kernel) and ending to intrusion/rootkit
detection applications.

Another quote: "[...] the only Mac immune to viruses, ironically, are
those who have installed Microsoft software such as Word and Excel.
[...]"



Which does not seem to be the case for the Flashback malware which
punched a security flaw found at the JRE, patched by Oracle but not
available for the users from the usual update channel until recently.

Greetings,

Camaleón


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