Re: [Trisquel-users] Ransomware in Trisquel/Ubuntu

[codyhofstetter]

Completely true. One of the real reasons you would want root access as a  
ransomware author is to manipulate the log files (which I hadn't mentioned  
prior to this) and for a couple other reasons. As a malware author, you need  
to attempt to remove as many traces back as possible. Without root access,  
when the malware is analyzed later it will be clearly evident to the forensic  
analyst exactly what happened (path of infection, etc).

But again, yes you are 100% correct root access isn't necessary.