RE: Cygwin & Virus

[Jason Pyeron]

> -Original Message-
> From: Damon Register
> Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 7:30
> Subject: Re: Cygwin & Virus
> 
> Jason Pyeron wrote:
> > We currently use Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition v10.1.5.5000.
> > 
> > I have not notices any false positives on our machines (25+) with 
> > Cygwin installed over the past several years.
> I don't have that many machines but with McAfee Corporate 
> edition on my PCs I don't remember any false positives.

This reminds me that both Symantec and McAfee have linux (file servers) scan
engines, we use the Symantec one, again I don't remember any false positives.


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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[Damon Register]

Jason Pyeron wrote:

We currently use Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition v10.1.5.5000.

I have not notices any false positives on our machines (25+) with Cygwin
installed over the past several years.

I don't have that many machines but with McAfee Corporate edition on
my PCs I don't remember any false positives.

Damon Register

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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[Larry Hall (Cygwin)]

On 3/21/2010 9:06 AM, Karthik Balaguru wrote:

On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 5:16 PM, Karthik Balaguru
<>  wrote:

On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 6:31 AM, Larry Hall (Cygwin)
  wrote:

^^^
  Thanks.


<>

On 3/13/2010 7:26 PM, Karthik Balaguru wrote:


Hi,
Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
virus ?


Very low.  If you have a virus checker that's pointing at a Cygwin
utility as a virus, I'd recommend running that reported virus-infected
file against at least a few other checkers before drawing any firm
conclusions.


Is there any preferred checker from cygwin ?


The reason behind this query is to avoid running the
reported virus-infected file against atleast a few other
checkers before drawing any firm conclusions.
If there is a checker that is recommended/preferred
by cygwin, it would save time by avoiding the
running it against all those other checkers. So,
pls lemme know if there is a checker that is
preferred by cygwin.


There is no official "preferred" virus checker.  Since all report false
positives on occasion, the best approach is to use a bunch of them and
act based on the report of the majority.  There are a variety of sites
that will allow you upload a suspect file and have it scanned by
multiple scanners.  Some that fall into this category are:

http://www.virustotal.com/
http://virusscan.jotti.org/
http://www.viruschief.com/
http://scanner.virus.org/
http://www.virscan.org/
http://www.filterbit.com/

I make no claims about any of these services.  Feel free to use one of
these or find another that suites your taste.

--
Larry Hall  http://www.rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc.  (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
216 Dalton Rd.  (508) 893-9889 - FAX
Holliston, MA 01746

_

A: Yes.

Q: Are you sure?

A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.

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RE: Cygwin & Virus

[Jason Pyeron]

> -Original Message-
> From: cygwin-ow...@cygwin.com 
> [mailto:cygwin-ow...@cygwin.com] On Behalf Of Karthik Balaguru
> Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2010 9:06
> To: cygwin@cygwin.com
> Subject: Re: Cygwin & Virus
> 
> On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 5:16 PM, Karthik Balaguru 
>  wrote:
> > On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 6:31 AM, Larry Hall (Cygwin) 
> >  wrote:
> >> On 3/13/2010 7:26 PM, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi,
> >>> Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
> >>> What is the probability of the linux environment to get 
> infected by 
> >>> virus ?
> >>
> >> Very low.  If you have a virus checker that's pointing at a Cygwin 
> >> utility as a virus, I'd recommend running that reported 
> >> virus-infected file against at least a few other checkers before 
> >> drawing any firm conclusions.
> >
> > Is there any preferred checker from cygwin ?
> 
> The reason behind this query is to avoid running the reported 
> virus-infected file against atleast a few other checkers 
> before drawing any firm conclusions.
> If there is a checker that is recommended/preferred by 
> cygwin, it would save time by avoiding the running it against 
> all those other checkers. So, pls lemme know if there is a 
> checker that is preferred by cygwin.
>

We currently use Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition v10.1.5.5000.

I have not notices any false positives on our machines (25+) with Cygwin
installed over the past several years.
 
> >
> >> FWIW, there has never been a confirmed virus from any 
> Cygwin utility 
> >> installed via 'setup.exe'.
> >>
> >
> 
> 
> Thx in advans,
> Karthik Balaguru
> 
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> 



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-   -
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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[Karthik Balaguru]

On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 5:16 PM, Karthik Balaguru
 wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 6:31 AM, Larry Hall (Cygwin)
>  wrote:
>> On 3/13/2010 7:26 PM, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>> Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
>>> What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
>>> virus ?
>>
>> Very low.  If you have a virus checker that's pointing at a Cygwin
>> utility as a virus, I'd recommend running that reported virus-infected
>> file against at least a few other checkers before drawing any firm
>> conclusions.
>
> Is there any preferred checker from cygwin ?

The reason behind this query is to avoid running the
reported virus-infected file against atleast a few other
checkers before drawing any firm conclusions.
If there is a checker that is recommended/preferred
by cygwin, it would save time by avoiding the
running it against all those other checkers. So,
pls lemme know if there is a checker that is
preferred by cygwin.

>
>> FWIW, there has never been a confirmed virus from any
>> Cygwin utility installed via 'setup.exe'.
>>
>


Thx in advans,
Karthik Balaguru

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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[Karthik Balaguru]

On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 6:31 AM, Larry Hall (Cygwin)
 wrote:
> On 3/13/2010 7:26 PM, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>> Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
>> What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
>> virus ?
>
> Very low.  If you have a virus checker that's pointing at a Cygwin
> utility as a virus, I'd recommend running that reported virus-infected
> file against at least a few other checkers before drawing any firm
> conclusions.

Is there any preferred checker from cygwin ?

> FWIW, there has never been a confirmed virus from any
> Cygwin utility installed via 'setup.exe'.
>

Thx in advans,
Karthik Balaguru

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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[Karthik Balaguru]

On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 3:17 PM, David Antliff  wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 20:42, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
>> On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 7:12 AM, David Antliff wrote:
>>> On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 13:26, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
 Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
 What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
 virus ?
>>>
>>> Hello Karthik,
>>>
>>> I don't entirely understand your question - are you asking whether a
>>> Windows virus infection can affect files manipulated by Cygwin on that
>>> same system? I would imagine the answer is yes if Cygwin is using
>>> standard OS facilities to read/write files.
>>
>> Yeah, You are Correct. My actual question was related
>> to this query. I was eager to know if the files touched by
>> cygwin(Linux environment) would get infected due to an
>> virus in Windows system ?
>
> Cygwin is just an application library upon Windows - there's no
> isolation from Windows. If something screws with Windows, then Cygwin
> can be affected too.
>
>> This is other thought that i had in my mind while thinking
>> about protecting files in linux environment(Cygwin) against
>> that of windows. Is it possible ?
>
> Cygwin isn't Linux. It just feels like Linux because many of the same
> applications are provided. But it isn't Linux.
>
>> Thinking over the similar lines, another query popped up
>> in my mind - Is cygwin more vulnerable to Windows based
>> Virus or Linux based Virus ?
>
> Cygwin isn't Linux, so it's not vulnerable to Linux-based viruses at
> all really. Cygwin is just an application on Windows, so yes, Cygwin
> is vulnerable to Windows based viruses and I'd imagine almost
> completely immune to Linux-based viruses unless they are silly Perl or
> shell script worms for example.
>
> That said, a security issue affecting something like OpenSSH could
> also be a problem in Cygwin. It really depends on where the root cause
> of the problem is that allows the issue to arise.
>
> In a nutshell - Cygwin is part of Windows. It's not an operating
> system in its own right. It's definitely not Linux. It just happens to
> do a lot of things that Linux can do because the same applications
> (like perl, bash, emacs, etc) are available.
>
> Hope this is helpful - if not, perhaps tell us what you want to achieve.
>

Thx for the clarifications.

Karthik Balaguru

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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[David Antliff]

On Sat, Mar 20, 2010 at 20:42, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 7:12 AM, David Antliff wrote:
>> On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 13:26, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
>>> Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
>>> What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
>>> virus ?
>>
>> Hello Karthik,
>>
>> I don't entirely understand your question - are you asking whether a
>> Windows virus infection can affect files manipulated by Cygwin on that
>> same system? I would imagine the answer is yes if Cygwin is using
>> standard OS facilities to read/write files.
>
> Yeah, You are Correct. My actual question was related
> to this query. I was eager to know if the files touched by
> cygwin(Linux environment) would get infected due to an
> virus in Windows system ?

Cygwin is just an application library upon Windows - there's no
isolation from Windows. If something screws with Windows, then Cygwin
can be affected too.

> This is other thought that i had in my mind while thinking
> about protecting files in linux environment(Cygwin) against
> that of windows. Is it possible ?

Cygwin isn't Linux. It just feels like Linux because many of the same
applications are provided. But it isn't Linux.

> Thinking over the similar lines, another query popped up
> in my mind - Is cygwin more vulnerable to Windows based
> Virus or Linux based Virus ?

Cygwin isn't Linux, so it's not vulnerable to Linux-based viruses at
all really. Cygwin is just an application on Windows, so yes, Cygwin
is vulnerable to Windows based viruses and I'd imagine almost
completely immune to Linux-based viruses unless they are silly Perl or
shell script worms for example.

That said, a security issue affecting something like OpenSSH could
also be a problem in Cygwin. It really depends on where the root cause
of the problem is that allows the issue to arise.

In a nutshell - Cygwin is part of Windows. It's not an operating
system in its own right. It's definitely not Linux. It just happens to
do a lot of things that Linux can do because the same applications
(like perl, bash, emacs, etc) are available.

Hope this is helpful - if not, perhaps tell us what you want to achieve.

-- David.

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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[Karthik Balaguru]

On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 7:12 AM, David Antliff  wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 13:26, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
>> Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
>> What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
>> virus ?
>
> Hello Karthik,
>
> I don't entirely understand your question - are you asking whether a
> Windows virus infection can affect files manipulated by Cygwin on that
> same system? I would imagine the answer is yes if Cygwin is using
> standard OS facilities to read/write files.

Yeah, You are Correct. My actual question was related
to this query. I was eager to know if the files touched by
cygwin(Linux environment) would get infected due to an
virus in Windows system ?

>
> Or are you asking about viruses targeted at Cygwin specifically?
>

This is other thought that i had in my mind while thinking
about protecting files in linux environment(Cygwin) against
that of windows. Is it possible ?

> Or are you asking about the vulnerability of Cygwin to Linux-targeted
> viruses (of which there aren't very many)?
>

Thinking over the similar lines, another query popped up
in my mind - Is cygwin more vulnerable to Windows based
Virus or Linux based Virus ?

Thx in advans,
Karthik Balaguru

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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[David Antliff]

On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 13:26, Karthik Balaguru wrote:
> Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
> What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
> virus ?

Hello Karthik,

I don't entirely understand your question - are you asking whether a
Windows virus infection can affect files manipulated by Cygwin on that
same system? I would imagine the answer is yes if Cygwin is using
standard OS facilities to read/write files.

Or are you asking about viruses targeted at Cygwin specifically?

Or are you asking about the vulnerability of Cygwin to Linux-targeted
viruses (of which there aren't very many)?

-- David.

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Re: Cygwin & Virus

[Larry Hall (Cygwin)]

On 3/13/2010 7:26 PM, Karthik Balaguru wrote:

Hi,
Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
virus ?


Very low.  If you have a virus checker that's pointing at a Cygwin
utility as a virus, I'd recommend running that reported virus-infected
file against at least a few other checkers before drawing any firm
conclusions.  FWIW, there has never been a confirmed virus from any
Cygwin utility installed via 'setup.exe'.


--
Larry Hall  http://www.rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc.  (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
216 Dalton Rd.  (508) 893-9889 - FAX
Holliston, MA 01746

_

A: Yes.
> Q: Are you sure?
>> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
>>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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Cygwin & Virus

[Karthik Balaguru]

Hi,
Since cygwin is a windows utility that provides linux environment.
What is the probability of the linux environment to get infected by
virus ?

Thx in advans,
Karthik Balaguru

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