Honeymoon over for Linux users
Source: Vnunet
As open source software becomes increasingly popular it is being targeted by virus writers and proving to be at least as vulnerable as Microsoft.
The virus-monitoring laboratory of Network Associates' Antivirus Emergency Response Team (Avert) has logged over 170 viruses and Trojans for Linux, as well as an additional 30 Unix shell scripts.
Of these, six or seven are active in the field at any one time - currently Ramen, Lion, BoxPoison, OSF, Scalper and its modification, Slapper.
The Slapper virus and its clones currently attacking Apache web servers are the most visible side of this move against open source, and the worm itself will be the development environment of choice for virus writers.
Slapper itself is losing steam, with only 2,500 infections for Slapper C compared to Slapper B's 19,200. But the source code is in wide circulation so more variants are on the way.
