is Linux free of virus?

This is my first post about Linux so if I write any wrong please correct my word
Few months ago I start use Linux
three year ago I install red hat 7 desktop on my computer that time I don't know there is Gui in Linux I also don't know pressing alt+ctrl+f2-f7 change terminal so I uninstall it within two day but now Linux is change
I think desktop effect of suse and fedora is beat vista aero future of Linux is good
Nowadays I use fedora 6 whit windows xp
I also hear Novell Microsoft deal I don't worry about it
Now I come to my real question
Last mouth I order ubuntu a very popular Linux distribution they post me free cd I don't know how they do this but they earn profit (can Microsoft learn form them who tell lots time of piracy?)
When I reed back side of the cd case of ubuntu they says that ubuntu is easy to install free of virus blah blah blah
Can u think when Linux become popular and it is use for home and office use this free of virus think of Linux lost? Can hacker also hack Linux and Symantec develop anti virus for Linux? Or Linux technology wins one more time?

[kumarmohit]

No by no means is Linux free of virus, but its inherent structure does make it very very less vulnerable to such things. Besides people who use linux are intelligent enuf to know where its safe to click and where not

There have been proof of concept viruses written for linux but according to varying reasons there are no widespread outbreak of Linux viruses. Firstly becoz linux is favourite among hacker community, if write a virus for it the community will frown upon you. Second the vulnerability which u a writer can try to exploit will be fixed real fast becoz of sheer size of developer force linux carries. Accordingly the low level desktop penetration of linux (Since people who have access to servers are again generally intelligent to know what they are doing.) also makes it a rather less incentive giving option to the virus writer

BTW you could have first searched the forum or the internet for such topics.

[praka123]

*NIX(BSD's,MAC,LINUX,MINIX etc) Platforms are inheretently immune to viruses.may be some worms are there which does the harm,but they too cant do much as they need a security vulnerability like in user permission options etc.

though project like reactos can be attacked by viruses,trogens etc etc/

Be it a hoax or reality,tuxissa
virus should have been necessary for all Windows Users to understand the features of Linux.

The virus is based on the Melissa virus, with its aim to install Linux onto the victim's computer without the owner's notice. It is spread via e-mail, contained within a message titled "Important Message About Windows Security". It first spreads the virus to other computers, then it downloads a stripped-down version of Slackware, and uncompresses it onto the hard disk. The Windows Registry is finally deleted, and the boot options changed. There the virus destroys itself when it reboots the computer at the end, with the user facing the Linux login prompt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuxissa_(computer_virus_hoax)

[Aberforth]

First hacking isn't related to virus infections so they're different matter. If you are careless with firewall hackers can access you computer (Novell's default firewall settings are good enough to stop most hackers cold). Even FBI database isn't hacker proof (Russian KGB and Serb guys have shown that) so you can't totally ensure that. But you can rest in peace in Linux as hacking it isn't as ABC like Windows.

Second for virus no, so far I don't think there is actually any working virus. Virus are codes which are executed and have commands to replicate and harm your system. In Linux you have permission system which would prevent any virus from replicating itself in root folders or executing itself without your permission. So logically a working Linux virus isn't a thing (unless you deliberately give one permission to wreck havoc).

[subratabera]

Originally Posted by praka123

*NIX(BSD's,MAC,LINUX,MINIX etc) Platforms are inheretently immune to viruses.may be some worms are there which does the harm,but they too cant do much as they need a security vulnerability like in user permission options etc.

though project like reactos can be attacked by viruses,trogens etc etc/

Be it a hoax or reality,tuxissa
virus should have been necessary for all Windows Users to understand the features of Linux.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuxissa_(computer_virus_hoax)

Scary...That will never change a Windows user to try Linux...This will make Linux a virus...Don't even think of that...Linux is way better than Windows and one day people will realize it and opt Linux over Windows...

[praka123]

^^ who knows Linux only Survives?with GPLv3 on verge of release,opensolaris being GPLed,you can expect a hybrid UNIX like kernel replacing all these *NIX kernels what we see now on open source domain.

[firewall]

Well, there are lots of misconceptions on virus (!) on gnu/linux . Most are just worms not the virus and the the os is built in such way, there is no chance that a worm can take over the entire system .

So dont worry ..and keep using the gnu/linux..

[rajasekharan]

you are super safe in Linux compared to windows . . . no o.s is with out its own flaws , remember that .with Linux you have a huge community answering your questions ,patching flaws . so its relatively safe home there

[unni]

This could be a scenario:
Attackers and defenders of computer systems both strive to gain complete control over the system. To maximize their control, both attackers and defenders have migrated to low-level, operating system code. In this paper, we assume the perspective of the attacker, who is trying to run malicious software and avoid detection. By assuming this perspective, we hope to help defenders understand and defend against the threat posed by a new class of rootkits. We evaluate a new type of malicious software that gains qualitatively more control over a system. This new type of malware, which we call a virtual-machine based rootkit (VMBR), installs a virtual-machine monitor underneath an existing operating system and hoists the original operating system into a virtual machine. Virtual-machine based rootkits are hard to detect and remove because their state cannot be accessed by software running in the target system. Further, VMBRs support general-purpose malicious services by allowing such services to run in a separate operating system that is protected from the target system. We evaluate this new threat by implementing two proof-of-concept VMBRs. We use our proof-of-concept VMBRs to subvert Windows XP and Linux target systems, and we implement four example malicious services using the VMBR platform. Last, we use what we learn from our proof-of-concept VMBRs to explore ways to defend against this new threat. We discuss possible ways to detect and prevent VMBRs, and we implement a defense strategy suitable for protecting systems against this threat.
From www.eecs.umich.edu/virtual/papers/king06.pdf (204 kB)