I've been poking around for a comprehensive list of Linux viruses.
Wikipedia has a list of 14 Linux viruses.
If you search the Kaspersky Labs virus database, keyword "linux", you come up with about 1110 entries.
However, it appears that Kaspersky Labs considers many programs to be Linux viruses when in fact they are either trojans (requiring the user to run the program and are non-self-replicating), or exploits of outdated network daemons.
Obviously many trojans and malware found in Windows exploit bugs in Windows, especially Outlook, which allow the program to execute itself. Such a situation doesn't exist in Linux, as the user must be social engineered into running the program himself.
So what would be a fair list of Linux viruses? Only programs which fit the definition of "virus"?
Wikipedia contains this definition of "computer virus":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus
"A computer virus is a self-replicating computer program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user. Though the term is commonly used to refer to a range of malware, a true virus must replicate itself, and must execute itself."
Using that definition there are only 14 Linux viruses.
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