As it happens, the architecture of the Windows operating system is such that it is particularly vulnerable to malicious attacks of this sortThere is no 'virus scanner' for Linux because there is no need for one. Bill Gates himself added fuel to the fire in an essay he wrote for Time magazine. In the essay, Gates asserted that the best defense against future virus attacks is an intact Microsoft, capable of installing coordinated defense systems into the operating system, office suites and other applications. This gloating will almost certainly come back to haunt us. Linux is by no means immune to viruses.
Any user can attach malicious executable code to an e-mail message at any time.
Today's most widely used Linux mail clients are too primitive to execute application-level scripts, but this feature will surely come. Linux system security may prevent malicious code from deleting system files, but scrambling or deleting user files is easily accomplished. And Linux is just as susceptible as Windows to viruses that propagate themselves through e-mail to entire address books. After these goofballs get tired of Windows, they'll turn their attention to Linux, and we will look even worse than Bill and the boys from Redmond do today. Sure, because of the gloating we've indulged in.