Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 07:02:07 05/05/00
Go up one level in this thread
On May 05, 2000 at 00:22:19, Eugene Nalimov wrote: >On May 05, 2000 at 00:06:56, Robert Hyatt wrote: > >>On May 04, 2000 at 19:53:02, James Robertson wrote: >> >>>On May 04, 2000 at 14:01:03, Frederic Friedel wrote: >>> >>>>On May 04, 2000 at 12:54:39, Dave Gomboc wrote: >>>> >>>>>On May 04, 2000 at 12:22:45, Frederic Friedel wrote: >>>>> >>>>>>Watch out for further information on CNN and Sky. Probably there will be a >>>>>>statement by Janet Reno. I believe the virus has reached the East Coast, and >>>>>>some are saying that the whole of the UK is down. I think maybe this is the Big >>>>>>One. >>>>> >>>>>Doesn't that seem to be over-doing it a little? :) The anti-virus tools will be >>>>>updated shortly, and we'll go back to life as normal. >>>>> >>>> >>>>Actually it's much worse than I initially thought. CNN, Sky, BBC, German TV, all >>>>of whom are carrying the story as headline news, keep advocating the same >>>>remedies: immediately delete any message entitled "I love you". Second remedy: >>>>get a virus protection update. >>>> >>>>This is rubbish. The virus comes to you as a Visual Basic source file. In five >>>>minutes you can change the title to "Important message" or "Virus warning". And >>>>I really don't know how Symantec and Mcafee can keep up with thousands of clones >>>>per day. >>>> >>>>Somebody on this thread suggeste a different remedy and protection: switch to >>>>Linux. This virus may turn out to be a bigger problem for Microsoft than all the >>>>current anti-trust lawsuits. >>> >>>And after everybody uses Linux, viruses will be gone? No, rather they will just >>>attack Linux. >>> >>>James >> >> >>There won't be any email viruses attacking linux (unix) machines. Sun allowed >>this once by distributing a version of sendmail with debug enabled. Everyone >>knows better now. Allowing executables in email is an insane idea. > >Want a bet? Yep. Been using unix for almost 30 years now. _never_ had an invasive email worm until Sun released a debug version of sendmail. We don't open and execute attachments automatically. > >The executable did not start automatically -- user had to manually run it. I >beleive that there are 2 factors why there are no such viruses on *nux: > >(1) It's much less widespread than Windows (I am not talking about server >environment/universities). >(2) Average user knows that's it not a good isea to start unknown executable. > In unix, you don't click and execute in an email environment, which is what saves the day. And even if you did, you zap _your_ stuff. This worm not only replicates itself, it zaps all sorts of files, including system files. That won't ever happen on a unix box (assuming a normal user is running). >When DOJ dream would come true and average Jane/Joe would have Linux on her/his >machine, those 2 factors would go away. And please notice that Jane/Joe would >run as the administrator (superuser), as it's slightly more convenient... >Eugene
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