The rise of Linux malware...

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Meh... most of us predicted this years ago. Everyone always harped about getting Linux to become more popular with computer users; I was against that happening. Why? Because the more popular an OS gets, the bigger the target put on its back gets. MS Windows is a great example of that.

 

Jack Wallen ponders the rising tide of Linux malware and offers advice on how to help mitigate the issue.

 

> If you’re looking for a server operating system, stick with the known entities, such as Ubuntu Server, Debian Server, RHEL, SUSE, Fedora Server, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.

 

Hmm... no mention of Slackware. My opinion of Jack Wallen suddenly diminishes.

[Bookmem]

1 hour ago, V.T. Eric Layton said:

Meh... most of us predicted this years ago. Everyone always harped about getting Linux to become more popular with computer users; I was against that happening. Why? Because the more popular an OS gets, the bigger the target put on its back gets. MS Windows is a great example of that.

 

Jack Wallen ponders the rising tide of Linux malware and offers advice on how to help mitigate the issue.

 

> If you’re looking for a server operating system, stick with the known entities, such as Ubuntu Server, Debian Server, RHEL, SUSE, Fedora Server, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.

 

Hmm... no mention of Slackware. My opinion of Jack Wallen suddenly diminishes.

LOL!!   I don't worry in the least about someone hacking my "server" and I just use Linux Mint 21.  Then again, my site is very seldom on line.  It's only purpose is to search my 115,000 song library and I only start Apache2 when I doing a show or someone I trust wants access for a short time.  Also, I don't use a SQL database.  My data is in a read only text file and the PHP scripts for the search routine is less than 1500 bytes and I know the exact length.  It would be pretty useless as a bot, even if someone did bother to hack it.

[securitybreach]

6 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said:

> If you’re looking for a server operating system, stick with the known entities, such as Ubuntu Server, Debian Server, RHEL, SUSE, Fedora Server, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.

 

Um, no one is using Ubuntu Server in production... lol. It's usually RedHat or Debian.

[sunrat]

34 minutes ago, securitybreach said:

 

Um, no one is using Ubuntu Server in production... lol. It's usually RedHat or Debian.

 

Not sure that's true. Ubuntu spends a fortune on development and sells support so I imagine some SMEs use it. You may be right in that major corporations would use something better.

Personally I wouldn't wipe my asci with anything *buntu.

[securitybreach]

Yeah, maybe so.

[raymac46]

I don't run a local server so I only have to worry about a desktop install or two. I find that keeping things up to date, not running as root, and avoiding dodgy sites and phishy emails can go a long way towards keeping you secure.

[wa4chq]

I hope it doesn't become a major problem for us.....

[securitybreach]

5 hours ago, wa4chq said:

I hope it doesn't become a major problem for us.....

 

It would never really be an issue as there is already malware scanners for linux  5 Tools to Scan a Linux Server for Malware and Rootkits (from 2018)

[crp]

On 9/13/2022 at 9:24 AM, Bookmem said:

LOL!!   I don't worry in the least about someone hacking my "server" and I just use Linux Mint 21.  Then again, my site is very seldom on line.  It's only purpose is to search my 115,000 song library and I only start Apache2 when I doing a show or someone I trust wants access for a short time.  Also, I don't use a SQL database.  My data is in a read only text file and the PHP scripts for the search routine is less than 1500 bytes and I know the exact length.  It would be pretty useless as a bot, even if someone did bother to hack it.

why would it be useless as a bot? it has a cpu and it has memory and it has access to the world, that is all a bot needs.

 

[crp]

On 9/13/2022 at 8:15 AM, V.T. Eric Layton said:

Meh... most of us predicted this years ago. Everyone always harped about getting Linux to become more popular with computer users; I was against that happening. Why? Because the more popular an OS gets, the bigger the target put on its back gets. MS Windows is a great example of that.

 

Jack Wallen ponders the rising tide of Linux malware and offers advice on how to help mitigate the issue.

 

> If you’re looking for a server operating system, stick with the known entities, such as Ubuntu Server, Debian Server, RHEL, SUSE, Fedora Server, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.

 

Hmm... no mention of Slackware. My opinion of Jack Wallen suddenly diminishes.

If I would gamble, i'd wager that this talked about 20 years ago on this forum with us saying that when Linux hits a certain level of users using as regular pc that the virus people would start coming after Linux.

 

(ps: slackWare as a server?)

 

Edited September 15, 2022 by crp

[securitybreach]

Well Slackware is the oldest surviving distro still around and it is known to be rock solid with long release cycles (besides security updates), sort of like why Debian is one of the best choices for a server OS. Amazing enough, the same guy runs the projects that started in 1993. Patrick Volkerding is the man!

[Bookmem]

5 hours ago, crp said:

why would it be useless as a bot? it has a cpu and it has memory and it has access to the world, that is all a bot needs.

 

Because 99.99% of the time it doesn't have access.

[abarbarian]

9 hours ago, Bookmem said:

Because 99.99% of the time it doesn't have access.

That 00.01% may be the last straw that the bot needs to bring an end to civilisation

[abarbarian]

11 hours ago, securitybreach said:

Patrick Volkerding is the man!

[Bookmem]

24 minutes ago, abarbarian said:

That 00.01% may be the last straw that the bot needs to bring an end to civilisation

If that's all it takes, then I'm afraid civilization is in big trouble. With all the billions of computers and imbedded devices on line, that .01% is like a drop of water in the ocean.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Linux became a target for hackers not because of personal computer use, but because of server usage. It's the servers that the hackers are primarily targeting.

[wa4chq]

20 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said:

Linux became a target for hackers not because of personal computer use, but because of server usage. It's the servers that the hackers are primarily targeting.

The servers just need to ID as a PC....simple, solved.

[securitybreach]

21 hours ago, V.T. Eric Layton said:

Linux became a target for hackers not because of personal computer use, but because of server usage. It's the servers that the hackers are primarily targeting.

 

Well most of the net is powered by linux servers. Even the top 500 supercomputers all run linux:

 

To give you a year wise summary of Linux shares on the top 500 supercomputers:

• In 2012: 94%
• In 2013: 95%
• In 2014: 97%
• In 2015: 97.2%
• In 2016: 99.6%
• In 2017: 99.6%
• In 2018: 100%
• In 2019: 100%
• In 2020: 100%

https://itsfoss.com/linux-runs-top-supercomputers/

[V.T. Eric Layton]

2 hours ago, securitybreach said:

Well most of the net is powered by linux servers. Even the top 500 supercomputers all run linux

 

Yes, that was my point.