On 01-Jul-07, at 1:21 PM, Anant Narayanan wrote:
and by the way if I develop a virus (first define that term in context of linux) I will only end up destroying files in my own user space. viruses r supposed to multiply and execute on all the machines they attack. how can virus developers ensure this?
If I were to make a virus, I would cloak it under the pretext of some other useful software. Think of a binary blob that supposedly installs a Flash Player on your system, or the Netbeans IDE, or some graphics drivers (ATi/nVidia?). You need to run the binary as root, and you will do so. I'll show you a progress dialog and all the works, but do some damage in the background - and the user is none-the-wiser.
that is trojan, not a virus