Can Linux be infected with viruses?

Linux will be infected with viruses. As long as it is a computer system, there is a possibility of being infected by viruses, including Windows, Linux, and Apple systems; in fact, the world's first virus that caused significant losses, the "Morris Worm", was on the Unix system. It used commands such as finger/mail It is still the standard configuration of Linux and other systems.

#The operating environment of this tutorial: linux7.3 system, Dell G3 computer.

Linux will be infected with viruses.

As long as it is a computer system, there is a possibility of being infected by a virus. Including Windows, Linux, and Apple systems, which everyone always thought were immune to viruses (in fact, the world's first virus was born on Apple computers).

There are also some Linux viruses, such as ransomware viruses, mining viruses, botnets and other viruses that all have Linux varieties.

The Morris Worm, the world's first virus that caused heavy losses, was on Unix systems. The finger/mail and other commands it used are still standard features of Unix systems such as Linux.

Linux not only has viruses on it, but also because Linux occupies an absolute advantage in the server market, once it is captured, it can be spread rapidly through various means such as server malware and make huge profits.

Why there are fewer viruses under Linux system

Many people may hold the view that Linux has fewer viruses because Linux is not like Windows So popular, in fact, this view has been refuted a long time ago. One of the most powerful arguments is: if virus writers write Windows viruses because there are many Windows users and are therefore highly destructive, then most servers on the Internet are Based on Unix/Linux, wouldn't attacking these servers be more destructive?

For a binary Linux virus to infect executable files, these executable files must be accessible to the user who starts the virus. written. This is usually not the case. What usually happens is that the program is owned by root and the user runs it from an unprivileged account. Moreover, the more inexperienced a user is, the less likely he is to have an executable file. Therefore, the less familiar a user's home directory is with this danger, the less suitable it is for viruses to propagate.

Even if the virus successfully infects a program owned by this user, the task of spreading it further will be very difficult due to the limited permissions of this user (of course, for Linux newbies running single-user systems, this argument Probably not applicable. Such users may be careless with the root account).

Linux network programs are built very conservatively and do not have the advanced macro tools that make it possible for Windows viruses to spread so quickly today. This is not an inherent characteristic of Linux; it is simply a reflection of the difference in the two user bases and the resulting different products that are successful in the two markets. Lessons learned from observing these issues will also be used in future Linux products.

Linux application software and system software are almost all open source. This affects the virus in two ways. First of all, it is difficult for viruses to hide in open source code. Secondly, for viruses that only have binary versions, a new compilation and installation cuts off a major transmission route for the virus. Although Linux publishers also provide a large number of binary software packages, users mostly download these software packages from reliable software repositories provided by the publishers. Most of them have md5 verification mechanisms and are extremely secure.

Each of these obstacles is an important obstacle to the successful spread of the virus. However, when they are considered together, basic questions emerge.

A computer virus, like a biological virus, must reproduce faster than it dies (is eliminated) in order to spread. The barriers mentioned above effectively slow down the reproduction rate of Linux viruses. If its reproduction rate drops below the threshold required to replace the original population, the virus's doom is doomed from the start—before potential victims are even aware of them.

We haven't seen a real Linux virus spread wildly, and the reason is that none of the Linux viruses that exist can thrive in the hostile environment provided by Linux. The Linux viruses that exist today are merely technical curiosities; the reality is that there are no viable Linux viruses.

Of course, this does not mean that there will never be a Linux virus. It does mean, however, that a successful Linux virus must be carefully crafted and innovative to survive in an unfit Linux ecosystem.

Related recommendations: "Linux Video Tutorial"

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