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Posts: 7179
Oct 4 10 3:43 PM
One thing you will hear a lot every time there is a major Virus or worm outbreak is something like the following:
Mr. LEWIS: Well, but certainly for criminals, your average home user, using an operating system that's not a big target makes you a smaller target, not because the operating system is better, just because the criminals get less bang for their buck by writing a worm that attacks Linux because theres so much fewer Linux installations out there. Are 'Stuxnet' Worm Attacks Cyberwarfare?
This is total and absolute bullshit. What this glosses over is the very simple fact that the stuxnet worm is infecting WINDOWS SERVERS as it's primary target, Windows Desktops that get infected are collateral damage simply because they are also Windows operating systems with the same vulnerabilities as Windows Servers.
You will note this virus is not infecting Unix or Linux Servers, which are utilised directly connected to the Internet and provide the majority of services on the Internet by a huge margin over Windows servers
Windows servers have about 30% market share compared to Linux (about 20 to 25% of Server sales mostly Red Hat) and Unix (the other ~ 50% of Sales) combined - those figures are based on actual sales NOT actual usage, so the Linux part of the equation is probably a lot higher, probably as much as 20 to 30%, because companies and people have the option of using Linux for Free, so actual Linux plus Unix usage is more likely closer to 80 to 90%.
For example Google has never paid for any of their Linux Servers, so the hundreds of thousands of Linux Servers they use are not counted as Linux Server sales. Google build all their Linux servers themselves, using Debian Linux as the base.
The same will apply in many other scenarios where Linux Servers are used. Weta Studios, the creators of the special effects in LOTR and Avatar, use Ubuntu Desktops and Ubuntu Servers in their Rendering Farms, these won't show up as sales. It's probably much the same right across the SFX industry. These people can't rely on suppliers like Red Hat ot Novell to meet thier needs, they need to be able to cobble together systems in house as the need arises. The only way they can do this easily is the same way Google do, using a Debian base, which means they don't show up on anyone's sales figures.
Criminals are not getting as much bang for their buck writing worms for Linux and Unix, because the worms can't propagate like they can so easily on any Windows System, Desktop or Server.
Windows might have 80 to 90% of the Desktop market (Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft claims Linux has ~10%), but when it comes to the Server market, the very simple fact of the matter is that Windows is a small player, and Servers are a much higher value proposition for criminals than Desktops, and yet, it's the Windows Servers that get targeted, NOT the Linux and Unix Servers.
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