Linux Virus v/s Windows Virus

How often have we heard of different computer viruses that spread over the networked machines with in a  few hours or days. But how many of these viruses pertain to Linux operating system? The answer is ‘very rarely’. Till date, all dangerous viruses which spread all over the world are Windows viruses.

Many people say that Windows is a very popular OS and has up to 90 percent market and that’s the reason more and more viruses are coming for Windows only. Hackers will target Windows as it has global reach in terms of the number of users and will help to spread the virus rapidly. Had Linux/Unix was as popular as Windows is, it would have faced the same number of virus attacks, argues the windows supporters.

To some extent, I agree with this point but not completely. The reason for virus attacks on Windows machines is not only the number of users of Windows in the world but also because Windows is very vulnerable as compare to Linux/Unix. In case of Windows, all the files having extension “exe” or “scr” or “bat” are considered to be executables. When you get a mail having a subject like “Crazy Screen saver” and an attachment having any of these extensions and you, without thinking much, double click on the attachment, and bang you are gone. Virus has attacked your system.

In case of Linux/Unix you need more steps to execute any attachment. You need to save the attachment, change its executable permission and then execute it. Because of these extra steps, its not so easy for any hacker, to run any virus on Linux/Unix machine.

Moreover in Linux/Unix, we have distinction between normal user and privileged user. A user can delete/update/execute only those files for which it has the permissions. Its a rule of thumb in Linux/Unix that don’t work as root privilege. Hence, if by mistake, a user executed any virus binary, it will only affect the home directory of the user, not more than that.

The above fact is just an example to show the vulnerability of Windows to viruses as compared to Linux/Unix. According to a survey, “There are about 60,000 viruses known for Windows, 40 or so for the Macintosh, about 5 for commercial Unix versions and perhaps 40 for Linux. Most of the Windows viruses are not important, but many hundreds have caused widespread damage. Two or three of the Macintosh viruses were widespread enough to be of importance. None of the Unix or Linux viruses became widespread – most were confined to the laboratory.”

Hence if you want to stay away from viruses, start working on Linux PC as it provides all the facilities as provided by Windows. Moreover its free