IS Linux secure or Windows?

1. 48

   kronos_namposted 14 years ago

   IS Linux secure or Windows?
   
   could you give a scenario to prove your point

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2. 61

   dustygiposted 14 years ago

   Windows desktop users are plentiful compared to Linux desktop users. Some could say that is the main reason for thinking that Windows is less secure. People with malicious intent would generally go for the biggest target.
   
   Another thinking is what's called security through obscurity. Meaning Linux is less secure because it is open source where everyone is able to look at and modify the source code. Windows source code on the other hand is not available to anyone outside of Microsoft and is highly guarded. However, Apple's OS X is highly guarded and it's UNIX-based but it doesn't get attacked like Windows.
   
   Windows base design inherently is less secure compared with Linux for various reasons. One reason is because Windows was originally built as a single-user design. Meaning applications and users had the same level of access to the system. Microsoft has had issues designing Windows away from a single-user into a multi-user design like Linux.
   
   Linux was built as a multi-user design from the beginning. In a multi-user design, applications are separated from users and users are given restricted privileges. Users are given their own directories to store their data files. When a user runs an application, the application is ran with the user's privileges so that they cannot change system files. This being said, if the user has the correct privileges, they can change system files. That is why if you run Linux, you never log in as root -- bad things happen. Windows Vista partially fixed this issue by using what is known as User Account Control.

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3. 60

   joeaura7posted 14 years ago

   Linux by original design is far more secure and less viruses then Windows, however Linux has not been tested as many people as Windows since only about 1% of the people use Linux and most hackers usually have no interest in hacking a Linux based system

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4. 59

   RedmanBrendanposted 14 years ago

   First you would have to define security, it's just as easy to break into an unsecured linux box as it is to break into an unsecured windows box. That being said when it comes to automated attacks like viruses, worms, and other malware, linux has a major edge.
   
   I would most certainly say Linux, but it would depend on your distribution. Linux has a lot of different "flavors" or distributions that are used.
   
   Even the worst linux distribution is going to be a lot resistant to viruses. There are a variety of reasons behind this, one was already mentioned and that is security through obscurity.
   I mean this in a different context however. The reason I would call the linux OS code a lot more obscure, is because you can use it in more ways than just out of the box. You can code and re-compile your kernel at will, so for all intents and purposes, the code could be 100% unique.
   
   The second reason behind this resistance is also due to obscurity though in a different way. Because there are a lot more windows users than linux users, most viruses are a .exe, or an exe poisoned jpg/doc. On linux exe files won't even run (without certain software and permission editing). So sure if there was a .tar.gz virus or .rpm or .deb virus it would affect linux...You notice those 3 extensions? Those are the same as .exe but for different linux distributions...
   
   So let's say you want to create a virus to target linux users, which of the many, many types of executable do you use? You'd have to keep in mind, most of these won't work between different distributions. Sorry if that got a little too technical.
   
   The last thing is pretty simple, you notice when you hit ctrl-alt-del and go to your process list you have all those windows processes running? Linux has a lot, lot less running. The way linux is designed, when you install it, you choose the software you're going to use and it installs only that. Because there are dramatically fewer programs running, there is a lot less to exploit.
   
   Hope this was helpful!

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