I'm not sure why they became so complacent in their analysis of these threats, particularly since the first major worm, launched in 1988 by Robert Morris, was released on Unix systems that used the well-known Sendmail messaging program. I guess everyone . . .
I'm not sure why they became so complacent in their analysis of these threats, particularly since the first major worm, launched in 1988 by Robert Morris, was released on Unix systems that used the well-known Sendmail messaging program. I guess everyone became so caught up in criticising the security of Microsoft operating systems and software--which has become the most popular target of virus writers--that they forgot about the existing vulnerabilities in Unix.

With the announcement of the Klez virus infection on Linux platforms, leading antivirus vendors started reminding us that Microsoft operating systems are not the only vulnerable OS when it comes to viruses. Even though users of Linux and other popular Unix platforms may not be big users of the Microsoft bundled applications that transmit viruses, Linux and Unix have their own vulnerabilities that may not be apparent at first glance.

Aside from Klez, other major threats affecting Linux/Unix platforms are the Lion.worm, the OSF.8759 virus, Slapper, Scalper, Linux.Svat, and the BoxPoison virus--just to mention a few.

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