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It was bound to happen, I suppose. I wonder if it will happen to Linux too, although I think it would be hard for malware writers to target Linux using conventi
by donaq 18y ago
It was bound to happen, I suppose. I wonder if it will happen to Linux too, although I think it would be hard for malware writers to target Linux using conventional methods if users stick to using only open source software.
- windsurfer 18y agoMost of the users I know only get their software through their distros package manager. I think it would be quite tough to get malware in there, especially since most distros accept only free software.
- vorador 18y agoWell, not necessarily. I mean, a repo could be hacked. Fortunately, apt uses signed packets.
- mahmud 18y agogoogle "debian openssl fiasco"
- windsurfer 18y agoWell that's not really fair. That was a software bug. It wasn't malware, and it had nothing to do with software installation.
- vizard 18y agoFedora servers were indeed hacked if I remember correctly and malicious packets were uploaded but it was detected before they reached the users. Repo security is certainly very important. But well, ultimately you have to trust someone?
- vorador 18y agoThe canonical example is http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html But I guess that there are two ways to feel really secure : either use openbsd, or just don't use the internet.
- tvon 18y agoThe alleged botnet in the article here did not come through Apple or Adobe servers, it came through thepiratebay.org, demonoid, usenet, etc.. In other words, the safety of the official channels of distribution is largely irrelevant. The only thing preventing this from happening in Linux is a lack of interest by trojan writers (they could already do it with vmware workstation which is surely available on pirate sites and requires root privileges to install) and perhaps a lack of proprietary 3rd party software (which I'm sure a lot of people will say is a good thing, but that's another discussion).
- electromagnetic 18y agoI wouldn't rule it out happening. However, I think the bigger risk (not necessarily more likely to happen, but the gain would be much bigger) would be someone getting a piece of malware built into the actual distro.
- keopi 18y agoOn linux, you also have the trouble of many different distributions and a very small user base. The time it would take to develop it wouldn't be worth the small user base it would attract. Any Linux malware would be targeting a tiny fraction of a fraction of a market.
- Harkins 18y agoIt already happened on Linux. I know I saw one in 2001, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear they go back years earlier. They don't look much like Windows/OS X botnets; instead of this trojan horse stuff they'd just crack insecure services or guess poor passwords and escalate privileges automatically. If you have any Ubuntu servers, tail /var/log/auth.log (similar names on other distros) you'll see trying to ssh in.