Internet Virus

[MrMike]

Hope this is not a stupid questions.

I finally got my internet working using live Knoppix CD. My question is, is it possible to get a virus that could effect my windows machine installation on the C: drive.

[angor]

No, you cannot get infected unless you try *very* hard.

Your C:\ partition is not even mounted by default.
When you mount it, it cannot be written to.
When you change that status to read/write, the biggest danger will be yourself
(no insult meant - everyone new to a system can make grave errors unnoticeingly
so don't *ever* work as root, at least for a while).

There are very few viruses that work on a Linux system (I personally know exactly one)
but you have to look very hard for them.

So rest assured :-)

[irlandes]

A few years, the Linux topguns said that 400 viruses had been written for Linux, not for malicious reasons, but to see if it were possible. Not only did they not replicate, but they needed to be installed on the computer manually.

The main reason viruses don't work in Linux is not that no one writes them. MS viruses write themselves into executables and DLL's. In Linux, assuming you are not logged in as root, permissions make it impossible for viruses, or the users themselves, to write anything to the executables.

The only real security problems for linux is direct attacks when connected to the Web. Be sure to install a firewall, especially if you go full-time live on the web. Go to shields-up to check your ports.