On 23 December 2010 18:42, Wayne Stallwood ALUGlist@digimatic.co.uk wrote:
On 23/12/10 14:05, mick wrote:
The/only/ reason we do not see the same problems that beset the MS world is that we/are/ a minority. If Linux were running on 90% of all corporate desktops then we would be drowning in Linux malware.
I dispute that.
What percentage of say hosting services are running on linux ? A lot more than 1-2%, more than 10% in fact last time I paid attention it was over 50%
Yet most of the exploits attack platform independent code (like PHP) running on those systems which is equally vulnerable or perhaps even more vulnerable when it is hosted on a Windows system. Compare that to the amount of attacks that target platform dependant flaws on Windows.
Also malware writers have proven they will attack a platform that has minimal market share when that platform is unguarded and the infection is likely to go undetected for a long time. 8% of your target infected for a very long time is almost as effective as 80% infected for a short time till the AV vendors catch up.
Case in point, recently some malware has been discovered in the wild for S60 phones, a platform that has nothing like market share, but it's easier to infect than iOS or Android.
Wayne, you can't attack Mick's figures then come out with something ridiculous like S60 has "nothing like market share"...! Where'd you get that from?! http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1466313 says Symbian S60 devices hold the biggest chunk at 36.6% of smartphone market share in Q3 2010.. (See table 2) It might be a different story this time next year though.
Cheers, Si