aaron kulkis cmiqlkx91hotpopcom benji weber wrote 07022008 mike wrote notion malware linux technically feasible highly irrational think experienced senior linux users shouldnt keep spreading deceptive mantra know better irrational disagree statement unless course show attachment autoexecutes linux malware entirely root remember john doe user accounts dsl pipes privacy breaches appscandoall etc know list root something stupid theres way describe first downloadedsaved made executable run three things done yes problem three step process case browser running user anything user allowed example exploit browser image viewing library exploited malicious javascript crafted image could potentially delete user files could used launch denial service attack spam machine need root combined local root exploit uncommon could potentially even get root full control system applies mail client irc client applications important keep software date still run untrusted code completely ignore security blindly visiting pages possible malware running email attachments etc even opensusegnulinux vulnerable technologies help like apparmorselinux etc yet user friendly enough desktop users use ssh server listening internet watch logs would surprised noticed brute force attacks precautions strong passwords fail2ban important even home machines run sshd gnulinux systems less exploitable windows respects exploitable due powerful tools installed windows tends fairly locked default reason false sense security significant enough target malware authors changes many people attitude problem worstcase scenario loss personal data andor runaway process consumes resources memory disk space constrained ulimit quota theres system crash wont reinstall whole system seethe whole unix security model presumed user might either unintentionally intentionally write andor execute runaway process could destructive writepermissions lack prevent process damage anything users personal files tue 05 aug 2008 173129 0500 opensuse opensuse 11