From: idupulap@students.uiuc.edu Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: 31 Jan 1998 15:58:33 -0600 Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Lines: 62 Message-ID: References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> Reply-To: idupulap@students.uiuc.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: ux5.cso.uiuc.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.4.52/XEmacs 20.2 Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!newsfeed.usit.net!newspeer.monmouth.com!ais.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!not-for-mail Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:985 comp.security.unix:785 just wondering why do you use a '*' in *NIX ? can I say UNIX ? please explain .. sorry if this is a very simple question. thanks. mica@vaughan.fac.unbc.ca (Mica Currie) writes: > Wayne Lee (Leewa) (phalanx@neosoft.com) wrote: > : To anyone, > > : I was wondering if UNIX platforms are vulnerable to "Virus" > : programs similar to those that can affect DOS/Windows platforms? I have > : been told that writing a memory-resident virus program for a UNIX platform > : is not likely because of the way UNIX's memory management is done. UNIX > : is more vulnerable to "Trojan Horses" and other things in this genre from > : what I have been told. How does this compare to Win95 and WinNT? Even > : though NT and 95 have different memory management schemes, are they > : vulnerable to virus attacks that you see on DOS/Windows 3.1 platforms? If > : someone can also give me a brief explaintion of the differences in the way > : UNIX, WinNT, Win95 and Win3.1 manage memory, this would be appreciated > : too. > > : Thanks, > > : Wayne > In one word. NO. They are not vulnerable in the way that dos and windows are. DOS/Windows is an inheirantly open system with no security. Since *NIX's are by their nature intended to be secure systems, any time a place was found where bits of code could be used to harm or damage the system, the system was fixed to prevent the security problem. This is not to say that there is not holes. Merely that they tend to be patched very quickly once found making any sort of exploit with that hole limited to those wh > o haven't fixed the bug, or who are unaware. Good sysadmins don't remain unaware for long. In contrast DOS/Win is full of holes and their attitude is to detect exploit code 'virii' then eliminate the harmful code. Needless to say the *NIX approach works much better. > > Unix is less vulnerable to trojan horses as long as the code is not run as root. Any user who runs a trojan horse program, since the program is limited to that users access, is the only one affected whereas with dos win31/95 the whole system can be lost. depending on how you are running WinNT it will either be like win31/95 if your not using ntfs on the system partition and is not as vulnerable if you are. > > As far as memory. > DOS gives you 640k directly addressable memory. > After that you need to run device drivers to provide the > system calls to address more memory. > > Win31 uses the same principle as dos except that they add the > swap partition which extends the physical memory via a > file on the harddisk. > > I don't know how win95/winnt deals with memory however > in theory winnt provides the ability for protected memory > spaces. In which each processes can either use a shared > memory pool (like win31) or a protected memory. With protected > each process gets a block of memory that it has exclusive rights > to and no other process can read or write to it. As well > this process is not permited to read or write outside of this > protected block. As well winnt and 95 use swap space to increase the > amount of physical memory. > > Finally *NIX's work by granting applications virtual protected > memory. In which each application is given a virtual address space > which is infinite in capacity. (theoretically) when the process > requests memory it allocates memory from the system pool and maps > it to the processes virtual address. This provides > memory security as no process can ever attempt to read anothers memory > without explictly coding support in both processes so that they can > share memory. > > ttyl...Mica ###### From: (Timothy J. Luoma) NOSPAM@ALL.PLS Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: 31 Jan 1998 23:00:53 GMT Organization: none Lines: 20 Message-ID: <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> NNTP-Posting-Host: cc344191-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Newsreader: RadicalNews (TM) 0.9.3 Beta(i) Cc: idupulap@students.uiuc.edu Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!newsfeed.usit.net!newsfeed.wli.net!newsfeed.direct.ca!newshub1.home.com!news.home.com!news.rdc1.nj.home.com!not-for-mail Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:986 comp.security.unix:786 In idupulap@students.uiuc.edu wrote: > > just wondering why do you use a '*' in *NIX ? > can I say UNIX ? > > please explain .. sorry if this is a very simple question. Unix (it's not an acronym right?) is a trademarked OS, I believe. The Unix-variants (FreeBSD, Linux, and so on) are not exactly Unix, technically speaking. That's why people use the * to stand for "all the various Unix-like OSes which are out there" TjL ###### From: cmbrown@AAntispam.NET (Daniel Brown) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: 2 Feb 1998 15:15:25 GMT Organization: Alternate Access Inc. Lines: 32 Message-ID: References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.157.220.10 X-Newsreader: slrn (0.9.3.2 UNIX) Cache-Post-Path: moon.aa.net!unknown@cust20.max5.seattle-k56.aa.net Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!newsfeed.usit.net!news-dc-3.sprintlink.net!news-dc-1.sprintlink.net!news-east.sprintlink.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!newsfeed.internetmci.com!131.103.1.114!news1.chicago.iagnet.net!qual.net!iagnet.net!ixa.net!news.aa.net!cmbrown Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:989 comp.security.unix:813 In article <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com>, Timothy J. Luoma wrote: >In idupulap@students.uiuc.edu wrote: >> just wondering why do you use a '*' in *NIX ? >> can I say UNIX ? >Unix (it's not an acronym right?) is a trademarked OS, I believe. > >The Unix-variants (FreeBSD, Linux, and so on) are not exactly Unix, >technically speaking. > >That's why people use the * to stand for "all the various Unix-like OSes >which are out there" That, and because it's trademarked, and for some people it's an actly of diety-worship to not fully spell the name (some usenetters use "Ghod", and "Y*hwey"[1] (sp) is said to be written on the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem). And no, Unix isn't an acronym -- it's a play on "Multics", the name of another OS in use at Unix's creation. Aside from multi-user abilities, the two were relatively unrelated. [1] Yahwey (sp), which is supposed to be the modern translation for the name for God, in the Judeo-Christian sense. Formerly, this was Jehovah. -- Daniel Brown | Linux: The choice of a GNU generation # cmbrown at aa.net | Real Hackers are Zen programmers: # Seattle, Washington | http://www.ccil.org/jargon/ # ====================^=======================================~ NOTE!!! Change the FROM: address when sending mail! ###### From: bill@cafe.net (Kaz Kylheku) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: 11 Feb 1998 20:05:18 GMT Organization: Internet Direct Lines: 25 Message-ID: <6bt09u$rhb$1@brie.direct.ca> References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> Reply-To: kaz@cafe.net NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.244.119.1 Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!leto.ou.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!newsfeed.direct.ca!newsgate.direct.ca!bill Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:1372 comp.security.unix:987 In article <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com>, Timothy J. Luoma <> wrote: >In idupulap@students.uiuc.edu wrote: >> >> just wondering why do you use a '*' in *NIX ? >> can I say UNIX ? >> >> please explain .. sorry if this is a very simple question. > >Unix (it's not an acronym right?) is a trademarked OS, I believe. No, it is the designation of a compatibility standard for constructing a certain type of OS. >The Unix-variants (FreeBSD, Linux, and so on) are not exactly Unix, >technically speaking. Only due to the technicality of not being branded as such. Branding requires $$$. Also, it requires careful adherence to the most minute requirements, obviously. I don't think that anyone in the freeware world really cares about the branding these days. The free UNIXes are far more useful out of the box; the first thing you do with a commercial UNIX workstation is endow it with enough freeware so that it approaches the usability of FreeBSD or Linux. ###### From: /dev/zero Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 17:33:28 -0800 Organization: Oregon Public Networking Lines: 21 Message-ID: References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: garcia.efn.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII To: Daniel Brown In-Reply-To: Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!leto.ou.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!news.uoregon.edu!news.efn.org!garcia.efn.org!ejd Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:1376 comp.security.unix:1003 "Unix" isn't an acronym now, but it used to be. Originally, it was spelled "UNICS," which stood for "UNiversal Computer System" :) Eventually, they took the acronym's meaning away and replaced the "CS" with an "X" --------------------------------------------------------- | "Avoid all needle drugs - | Eric DeArment | | The only dope worth | ejd@efn.org | | shooting is Richard | ejd@m-net.arbornet.org | | Nixon." -Abbie Hoffman, | Team Ada "member" & | | "Steal This Book" | Socialist | --------------------------------------------------------- ###### From: Toby Creek Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 13:15:13 -0500 Organization: Alcatel Network Systems, Inc Raleigh, NC Lines: 16 Distribution: world Message-ID: <34E33C31.5C9F3DAB@aur.alcatel.com> References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: aursgw.aur.alcatel.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (X11; U; SunOS 5.5.1 sun4u) Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!leto.ou.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!newsfeed.gte.net!news.airnews.net!cabal11.airnews.net!seas.smu.edu!news01.aud.alcatel.com!aur.alcatel.com!not-for-mail Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:1443 comp.security.unix:1014 /dev/zero wrote: > > "Unix" isn't an acronym now, but it used to be. Originally, it was > spelled "UNICS," which stood for "UNiversal Computer System" :) > Eventually, they took the acronym's meaning away and replaced the "CS" > with an "X" I've seen this stated before, but it is not correct. UNIX was a weak pun on Multics, a long forgotten dead project OS at AT&T. Toby -- Toby Creek - UNIX System Administrator Alcatel Telecom, 2912 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, NC Phone +1 919 850 6465 / Fax +1 919 850 6703 mailto:creek@aur.alcatel.com ###### From: callmeox@en.com (Eye Vee) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: 12 Feb 1998 15:45:46 -0500 Organization: Exchange Network Services, Inc. Lines: 36 Message-ID: <6bvn1q$kmj@shell.en.com> References: <34E33C31.5C9F3DAB@aur.alcatel.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.89.181.200 Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!newsfeed.usit.net!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!antares.en.com!not-for-mail Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:1444 comp.security.unix:1019 In article <34E33C31.5C9F3DAB@aur.alcatel.com> Toby Creek writes: >/dev/zero wrote: >> >> "Unix" isn't an acronym now, but it used to be. Originally, it was >> spelled "UNICS," which stood for "UNiversal Computer System" :) >> Eventually, they took the acronym's meaning away and replaced the "CS" >> with an "X" > >I've seen this stated before, but it is not correct. UNIX was a weak >pun on Multics, a long forgotten dead project OS at AT&T. > >Toby From _Unix for the Impatient_ by Abrhams and Larson The first version of UNIX, called Unics, was writen in 1969 by Ken Thompson at Bell laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It ran on a Digital Equipment PDP-7 computer. Bell Labs had been involved...in the deveolpment of the Multics system, a large, highly capable time sharing system...Thompson and his colleagues admired the capabilities of the Multics system but felt it was far too complicated. You decide...... (is Ken Thompson still alive?? If so, what's his e-mail address?? ;-) -=scott=- -- well | Scott Ivancic callmeox@en.com whatever | http://www.en.com/users/callmeox nevermind | (..and Kam Fong as Chin Ho) ###### Path: ccw.ch!usenet From: Neil.Franklin.remove.this@ccw.ch Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: 13 Feb 1998 01:46:08 +0100 Organization: My own Private Self Lines: 15 Message-ID: References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 /dev/zero claimed: >"Unix" isn't an acronym now, but it used to be. Originally, it was >spelled "UNICS," which stood for "UNiversal Computer System" :) >Eventually, they took the acronym's meaning away and replaced the "CS" >with an "X" Error. It stood for Uniplexing Computing System. It was a pun on MULTICS, Multiplexing (= Multitasking) Computing System. -- Neil.Franklin.remove.this@ccw.ch, http://www.ccw.ch/Neil.Franklin/ for Geek Code, Papernet, Voicenet, PGP public key see http: Mac, 95 and NT users are CLUEless (Command Line User Environment) If I go missing, its once again my newsfeed that has craped ###### From: P Kumar Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 09:12:25 +0530 Organization: Hewlett Packard India Software Operation, Bangalore Lines: 22 Message-ID: <34E3C121.3814@hotmail.com> References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> <34E33C31.5C9F3DAB@aur.alcatel.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: howzatt.india.hp.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (X11; I; HP-UX B.10.20 9000/712) Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!newsfeed.usit.net!news.vt.edu!solaris.cc.vt.edu!nntprelay.mathworks.com!news1.best.com!sdd.hp.com!hpscit.sc.hp.com!news.india.hp.com!news Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:1445 comp.security.unix:1038 Toby Creek wrote: > > /dev/zero wrote: > > > > "Unix" isn't an acronym now, but it used to be. Originally, it was > > spelled "UNICS," which stood for "UNiversal Computer System" :) > > Eventually, they took the acronym's meaning away and replaced the "CS" > > with an "X" > > I've seen this stated before, but it is not correct. UNIX was a weak > pun on Multics, a long forgotten dead project OS at AT&T. Hey, I read something "interesting" that said UNIX came from "eunuchs" because it was "castrated Multics" > > Toby > -- > Toby Creek - UNIX System Administrator > Alcatel Telecom, 2912 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, NC > Phone +1 919 850 6465 / Fax +1 919 850 6703 > mailto:creek@aur.alcatel.com ###### From: Donald Campbell Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 22:45:36 +0000 Organization: SueDon Ltd Distribution: world Message-ID: References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> <34E33C31.5C9F3DAB@aur.alcatel.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: suedon.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: suedon.demon.co.uk [158.152.88.244] MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Newsreader: Turnpike (32) Version 3.05 <44dHJoTAnEExpp1GlJEzokZBdO> Lines: 20 Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!leto.ou.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!woodstock.news.demon.net!demon!news.demon.co.uk!demon!suedon.demon.co.uk!suedon.co.uk!Donald Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:1543 comp.security.unix:1051 In article <34E33C31.5C9F3DAB@aur.alcatel.com>, Toby Creek writes >/dev/zero wrote: >> >> "Unix" isn't an acronym now, but it used to be. Originally, it was >> spelled "UNICS," which stood for "UNiversal Computer System" :) >> Eventually, they took the acronym's meaning away and replaced the "CS" >> with an "X" > >I've seen this stated before, but it is not correct. UNIX was a weak >pun on Multics, a long forgotten dead project OS at AT&T. > >Toby I understand that they did produce Multics and it did/does run on a couple of IBM mainframes, although it never escaped from the University environment. Regards Donald Campbell ###### From: John Andrea Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.security.unix Subject: Re: [Q] Viruses Under UNIX? Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 11:54:13 -0400 Organization: IOSat Inc. Lines: 6 Message-ID: <34E9B2A5.87C@iosat.com> References: <6at46s$5pp$1@uuneo.neosoft.com> <6at8an$cdl@bobs.unbc.ca> <6b0af5$oj4$2@ha2.rdc1.nj.home.com> <34E33C31.5C9F3DAB@aur.alcatel.com> Reply-To: jandrea@iosat.com NNTP-Posting-Host: gateway.satlantic.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (WinNT; I) Path: ccw.ch!aetna.dolphins.ch!news.planetc.com!leto.ou.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!News.Vancouver.iSTAR.net!news.istar.net!nr1.ottawa.istar.net!not-for-mail Xref: ccw.ch comp.unix.admin:1558 comp.security.unix:1052 > I understand that they did produce Multics and it did/does run on a > couple of IBM mainframes, although it never escaped from the University > environment. some military sites used (and continue to do so) Multics because it is very secure. See http://www.best.com/~thvv/multics.html