Defense Against Web Hostilities

No defense is perfect. However, we can reduce damage by choosing a more secure computing environment.

Since Knoppix Linux is based on Linux, there are relatively few viruses and worms that target it. This is good news, because one can ``accidentally'' bump into viruses and worms and remain uninfected.

What if one bumps into a virus or worm that targets Linux? On a diskless workstation, the worst that can happen is the invading program can log keys (and hence steal passwords). However, there is little else that a hostile program can do. This is because the operating system resides on a read-only medium, so it cannot be corrupted. A reboot of the system should rid any infection.

If you run Knoppix on a computer that has a hard disk, it is still possible for a hostile program to steal and corrupt files. However, this is difficult because Knoppix, by default, disables most incoming network connections. This is not to say it is impossible, but it is going to be very difficult for someone to break into a Knoppix box via the internet.