I just ran a scan of my home folder with avast for linux and it detected multiple instances of 'WMA:Wimad [Drp] . Im pretty sure this is a window based virus so opensuse 11.2 should be actually infected right?
Sure Linux can store files that contain Windows viruses, but they don’t run on Linux for various reasons you will no doubt have explained to you. If you use Linux as a file server for Windows machines or handle mail for Windows machines, then a scan program might be needed. Otherwise don’t worry about it.
The unrealircd debacle was basically untrustworthy source code. That’s one reason why you should stick to official repositories for your package needs.
A program i want to install called scrobbler from last fm Download The Last.fm Scrobbler – Last.fm isn’t in the official repositories-could this program have a backdoor in it?
whats to stop the official reposotories from being hacked-do automatic updates have digital signatures?
Digital signatures check that the packages come from the packager they are claimed to be from, but that says nothing about the trustworthiness of the people who made the packages.
Official repos are controlled by Novell developers. Some commonly used third-party repos are run by well-known identities, groups or companies in the open source world.
Basically you have to use your own judgement, just as you would when shopping. Who runs the site? How well are they known? What have other people’s experience with it been?
You wouldn’t install a random binary from the Net on any machine, whatever the OS, would you? Same goes for subscribing to repos.
the scrobbler windows program contains two troublesome sets of code. In the first case the code comes across matching closely to a known trojan virus that only functions in windows. While the writers acknowlege their code is sometimes reported as by McAfee, AVG-9, and others as being a trojan, they profess it is not. The second part of the story, is that the program again on only windows machines uses an insecure port to access music on the net bypassing firewall and anti-virus to do it’s updates. They also talk about on the fly codec installs such that the user is unaware of any performance drop.
Seeing this, I understand why Linux repositories of major distributions would not include it!
It downloads/installs codecs for which no license has been paid – could be major infringement issue
If it bypasses windows security (firewall/antivirus) and uses an open port to directly access sites this is a major security risk. If it does this in windows, one would presume it also behaves this way in Linux.
Personally, I would not trust it, but it’s your system.
Digital signatures check that the packages come from the packager they are claimed to be from, but that says nothing about the trustworthiness of the people who made the packages.
Official repos are controlled by Novell developers. Some commonly used third-party repos are run by well-known identities, groups or companies in the open source world
.
Exactly: if it comes from someone well-known, who has a reputation to protect, you can feel fairly safe that they have procedures and policies in place and have exercised care in preparing the packages, for fear of losing that reputation. And, with signed packages, you should be able to be confident that the package comes from who it claims to come from.
Once you stray away from that, the danger increases. If you feel the need to indulge in risky practices, you probably would want to take additional safety measures.
accessdeniedno wrote:
>> If you feel the need to indulge in risky practices, you probably
>> would want to take additional safety measures.
>
> Additional measures such as what? is there a book/website on
> opensuse security i should know about?