Kaspersky debuts Linux antivirus in the U.S.

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The real reason for Linux antivirus

In case anybody here didn't notice, antivirus products for Linux, Unix, and NetWare servers have been available for years. (we use CA eTrust for Linux, NetWare and Windows.) The reason why the products exist is that the Windows PCs that are sending e-mail to them or through them, and storing files on them get infected with viruses and worms. So, guess what? Infected files and e-mail attachments that are stored on those Unix, Linux, and NetWare servers have been put there by infected Windows PCs.

In order to mitigate the damage, you run antivirus on the servers to prevent other Windows PCs in your organization from getting infected from items that have been stored on the servers. One great thing about Unix, Linux, and NetWare servers has been that they can't get INFECTED by a Windows virus or worm. Note that having an infected file on the hard drive is not the same as being infected by it.

Those e-mail "firewalls" are pretty neat, aren't they? Guess what? Most of them are running some type of embedded Linux, and in the case of 2 brands I know of, they run CA eTrust for Linux to scrub the incoming and outgoing messages.

The reason for the existence of antivirus for desktop Linux is harder to justify - I think it's mostly to satisfy policy requirements of companies and organizations that think it's necessary for any and all computers regardless of type.

One caveat there - as the Linux Wine and Crossover Office support for Windows apps improves, the windows emulation environment will look and function more and more like actual Windows. Could this enable a Windows virus to do its job on Linux? Maybe that's the best reason to have antivirus on a Linux desktop.

Posted by: netminder   Posted on: 08/03/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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