this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2025
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If the trend continues then maybe the hacker community will start focusing on Linux. Can you imagine "I don't need a virus scanner, I use Windows, the under dog OS"
The hacker community it's very focused on Linux since most servers in the world run it. The fly by night script kiddies and botnet creators definitely prefer end user systems though.
This right here. Linux security is so good that the easiest way to break in is via Phishing someone with a windows laptop.
The old jibe was that Windows users are so gullible that they're just easier to phish.
Yeah exactly. Nobody actually "hacks" anymore. They just send Pam in accounting a funny email
The easiest hacks use social engineering. Much more social to exploit in the end-user arena.
Please become a thing. Having viruses custom tailored for your OS means you've made it.
I don't wanna "make it". I just want fast, secure, private computing.
Agreed. However, more users (personal, institutional or business) equals more devs focused on the OS.
We need enough, not more. The concept of "more" and "surplus" got us into this capitalist dystopia. I know this isn't the point you're making. I'm just making a separate point that I thought of reading yours. :)
And that's fine. I agree. Becoming consumist hoarders is what got us to where we're at. Or rather, what allowed companies and institutions to take us here.
Same, I'm largely being facetious. But viruses come with success, and success also means more software and hardware compatibility. I think that's worth a periodic scan every so often and some slightly inconvenient security systems in place.
There already are. I barely missed a linux virus from a hijacked python package what... two years ago?
Linux desktops are quite non-homogenous though, so their vectors/nature is kinda different.
Sure, and they have been for decades. They're still not that common though.
What Python package almost got you?
I wonder if I've been hit but just haven't noticed because I tend to run things in containers.
Pytorch Nightly: https://pytorch.org/blog/compromised-nightly-dependency/
https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/04/pypi_pytorch_dependency_attack/
Funnily enough I can't even post what it does without the Lemmy comment filter zapping me, but it tried to scrape accounts and passwords.
Was pretty scary from my perspective. I missed it by a week. PyPi is a mess, and it makes me wonder how much isn't caught.
That is scary. But it does require using a custom repository, so hopefully few were hit.
We use poetry, enough which allows specifying additional package repos and it looks like we'd be susceptible to the same attack, but for our internal package index. Looks like I have something to fix this week, thanks for the link!
You say that like it's not already focused on. The majority of Internet infrastructure runs on Linux.
But the vast majority of viruses focus on end users.