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Wouldn't it be possible to create a virus for Linux

Off-Topic discussions about science, technology, and non Debian specific topics.
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LE_746F6D617A7A69
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Re: Wouldn't it be possible to create a virus for Linux

#21 Post by LE_746F6D617A7A69 »

RU55EL wrote:So, if the software function that killed hundreds of people was not unexpected behavior, Boeing intentionally sabotaged their own plane with the intention of making it crash? And you attribute this to greed? (These questions are rhetorical.) That would be very counter productive to their profit margin. Just look at the financial result!
Clarification: I don't believe that anyone at Boeing wanted to kill those people - killng people makes a bad press, You know...
They have just estimated the probability of airplane crash as being lower than the risk of loss of profits (*).
You may call it a Risk Management - sounds nicer than greed - and yeah, it showed up that the probability calculations were too "optimistic" ... crap happens.

(*) The root cause of this disaster was that AirBus changed the placemnt of jet engines, improving aerodynamics and lowering fuel consumption. Boeing tried to do the same, but they failed - their aiplane was unstable during acceleration. Instead of improving the design, they decided to install a malware which acted against pilots, leading to a crash.
This could be avoided if Boeing would inform the pilots that there is a hidden functionality in the software - but at the same time they would have to admit that the aiplane is defective.

Again: that was not a software bug, but an intentionally installed malicious software designed only to hide physical deficiencies of the airplane and to protect Boeing from financial losses.

Of course it didn't replicate itself - it was just manually copy-pasted to each of the aiplanes - by humans.

I suppose that they are using Linux RT kernel for the airplane flight control OS - and if I'm right, it would mean that Boeing have created the most dangerous malware for Linux.
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millpond
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Re: Wouldn't it be possible to create a virus for Linux

#22 Post by millpond »

The proper term should be *malware*. The four main categories are virii, worms, and trojans, and exploits. Each do different things, and should not be confused.

In Win the main problem is trojans, since the OS itself is essentially a virus/trojan/exploit as it tries to ensure that the user does not actually *own* his desktop. If M$ can pwn your desktop, so can Yigor in Minsk. In my own experience the solution is to ignore the malware aspect and focus on the vector aspects. Fully armor browsers, and email, disable as much as possible interaction with the 'cloud', as well as 'updates'. BITs is an enemy.

In Linux the issue is different. Servers have their own unique set of issues for which the security is nearly perfectly designed for, but for home users exploits built into the code seem to be the main issue. Snowden has assured us that Linux is compromised, and the Bash and Heartbleed exploits give only a clue as to what is going on.
Keeping in mind the the Internet was designed by Darpa, and that it, or rather its daughter agencies are still behind its funding, and that some of the developers and even products have questionable sources. Like Tor.
And some encryption protocols.
However for home users the main concern would probably just be governmental surveillance, as complete control is built into the OS independent CPU cores. Mainly designed to shut systems down. Little is apparently known about telemetry.

While malware can certainly be written for Linux, and assume that closed source corporate junk is certainly malware to some degree or other (as is the 'cloud') , it is much more easy to secure by even a simple matter of compiling from source that has all net IPs blanked out or put in hosts.deny. (search for :// or its hex equivalent, or other IP markers) .

The biggest threat would be vulnerabilities of RDP software. I personally doent even trust ssh, and disable it normally.

While i do not think Linux will ever be as vulnerable as Win, a surge of popularity, especially with crypto apps could inspire some nasty surprises in the future. The only real protection is proper caution and shielding of everything that enters the system. Sandboxes help for testing.

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Re: Wouldn't it be possible to create a virus for Linux

#23 Post by LE_746F6D617A7A69 »

millpond wrote:Snowden has assured us that Linux is compromised
Are You sure?
I mean, that Mr Snowden is now working for Russia - are You going to trust him?
millpond wrote:Keeping in mind the the Internet was designed by Darpa, and that it, or rather its daughter agencies are still behind its funding, and that some of the developers and even products have questionable sources. Like Tor.
Long time ago, when DARPA could have an influence on the Internet protocols specification, they had completely no idea what the Internet can be used for ...
An easily provable fact is that there's a DarkNet, which is functioning perfectly, despite the fact that many organisations are trying hard to shut it down ;)

TOR means a freedom for a lot of people - just because criminals are are using cars to escape, it does not mean that we should forbid manufacturing of the wheels ;)
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Re: Wouldn't it be possible to create a virus for Linux

#24 Post by sunrat »

Moved this topic to Offtopic as it's not a support question and not particularly about Debian.
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