HuangLao wrote:it is foolhardy to say the least to accept the myth that *nix is immune to malware/viruses etc... If the day ever comes when *nix users are a percentage worthy of such attacks then it will be prevalent indeed. Also, there are many rootkits, viruses etc... for *nix, if you use sudo, guess what that virus can find out easily what your "root" password is. Look at Ebury/Windigo and tell me that something as simple as ssh cannot be used as an exploit, or dare I say the Debian openSSL fiasco a few years back.
Your browser is your first line of defense (actually your router), if your browser is hosed, outdated etc... then you are walking around naked in the matrix telling everyone to take a pull for free. Banking is the least of your worries if you continue to use an old browser for anything other then liveCD trivial browsing, why do you think TOR updates their browser often etc....
***Wait a minute, are you not the same person that likes to herald the benefits of frankendebian and having the latest and greatest?
See,
Millons of users are using everyday oudated Android's Apps from litle trust sources and i dindnt heard anything bad happening to them. And they've their smartphone full of important documents and stuff and full of all kind of litle trusted apps. Most of them even has litle knowns about security risks,
So my feeling is all this paranoid about security is a so exagerated in a linux system, facts say otherwise, there's litle to be worried if you know more or less what you 're doing.
I think using an oudated browser for a regular use, and preventing bank operations with it, in linux should be ok; the browser code cant be altered, so once its reopened the worm, or whatever that might be exploiting the bug, would be pushed away, getting the code fresh and clean back.
Just think about the millons Android users, installing and uninstalling thousands of apps from litle trusted sources.. Its maddness if you compared with my case,