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Is the Unix Community Worried About Worms?
jaliathus asks: "While the Microsoft side of the computer world works overtime these days to fight worms, virii and other popular afflictions of NT, we in the Linux camp shouldn't be resting *too* much. After all, the concept of a worm similar to Code Red or Nimda could just as easily strike Linux ... it's as easy as finding a known hole and writing a program that exploits it, scans for more hosts and repeats. The only thing stopping it these days is Linux's smaller marketshare. (Worm propagation is one of those n squared problems). Especially if our goals of taking over the computing world are realized, Linux can and will be a prime target for the worm writers. What are we doing about it? Of course, admins should always keep up on the latest patches, but can we do anything about worms in the abstract sense?" Dispite the difficulties in starting a worm on a Unix clone, such a feat is still within the realm of possibility. Are there things that the Unix camp can be learning from Code Red and Nimbda?
The only thing stopping it these days is Linux's smaller marketshare.
That, and the fact that MOST *nix users/admins tend to be a bunch of computer dorks, like us, and will be sure to stay up to date on security concerns, or at the very least, clean their system of the worm in a timely fashion.
Don't Tread on Me
As a developer, I thank you! All this time I've been writing deliberately buggy code, never imagining that it might cause problems.
Then you get black worms that exploit vulnerabilities in white worms, white worms that search for black worms and destroy them, black worms that hunt black-hunting white worms, grey worms that fix your security hole but extract a "payment" in the process, grey worms masquerading as white worms, black worms masquerading as white worms, white worms that inadvertantly do damage while trying to do good, black worms that exploit new holes left by those white worms, and pretty soon you've lost track of what worms you thought you had, what worms the white worms told you you had, what the grey worms have taken, and what the black worms have done.
It's much better to fix your own security problems, and not depend on some worm that says it's white.
I'm much more worried about rabies and distemper.
Is the Unix Community Worried About Worms?
If some of you hardcore *nix users would take showers more often than major holidays this wouldn't be an issue.
Those of us who have to sit in stuffy cubicles within a 10' radius of you thank you for your consideration of this matter.
I'm worried about worms, big time! There's this one worm named RMS that seems to think it created every operating system out there and that because someone uses an application that it's associated with, the operating system should be named after it. No matter how hard I try, I keep getting emails in regards to this worm, and it just won't let up! Does anyone have any advice?
The UNIX world already had a worm that recursively exploited security holes and spread, back in 1988.
Huh? I thought the first UNIX worm was released in 1991, by some Finnish 5kr1p7 k1dd13 called Torvalds or something like that.