[Gllug] New worm doing the rounds?

[Simon Wilcox]

On Mon, 9 Feb 2004, Christopher Hunter wrote:

> The virtual invulnerability of Linux to malware should be one of its'
> major selling points!

This is sort of true but the latest trojan doing the rounds does not rely
on any vulnerabilities in windows, it's a social engineering trick. It 
could work just as well on linux if someone bothered to write one and the 
userbase was sufficiently clueless to run the attachment.

Linux scores better because it has less vulnerabilities to exploit, it's
harder to hide malware code and generally mail clients don't run
executables direct from the UI.

It is still quite possible to write a user mode programme that will sit 
there, read .addressbook (or whatever) and use the local MTA to send lots 
of spam out.

As linux increases its penetration of the desktop, expect to see these 
kind of attacks.

Simon.

-- 
"Please enjoy your trip through this door..."
 

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