Linux is immune? I remember hearing that about Macs until a friend posted this: Link
Has Linux just not been targetted? |
That's a pretty common misconception. Linux is not immune to a virus. There is, however much better system protection inherent in Linux. Firstly, a virus would have to actually be executed. Secondly, if a user does execute a virus, it can only do damage to that user's files, not the system as this would require root access unlike Windows where a virus can run rampant and destroy system files at will.
It's unrealistic to claim that "LInux just hasn't been targeted" as a large percentage of servers out there run on Linux. The truth is, the virus writer/user who has ill intent just gets more "bang for the buck" writing Windows virus.
Despite the FUD from Microsoft, Linux is inherently more secure than Windows. Also, though it may take Microsoft many months to fix known security holes, in Linux this often happens in a matter of hours as there are so many different people with access to the source code and constantly testing and developing Linux. I have personally seen cases where a security hole was discovered in the Linux kernel, emails went out over mailing lists, and a patch was available for world-wide download within 2 hours of the original email.
