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Multiplatform Java Botnet Spotted In the Wild
It's fun sometimes to be smug because you are ("one is") using an operating system less susceptible to malware, or at least less targeted by malware creators, than is Microsoft Windows. Now, reader Orome1 writes with word of a Java-based, equal-opportunity botnet Trojan, excerpting from Help Net Security's report: "'IncognitoRAT is one example of a Java-based Trojan discovered in the wild that is being downloaded and installed by another component. This malware behaves like other Windows botnets but uses source code and libraries that can operate on other platforms,' explains McAfee's Carlos Castillo." So far, no mention of a Linux version, though.
AFAIK, any OS that allows a user to install software is susceptible to malware.
Anyone smugly thinking they aren't is an idiot.
Wake me up when a worm has been discovered in the wild targeting OS X or Linux
Read that again. Source code.
Also from the article:
In other words, it may be source compatible with Linux but there is no Linux binary in the wild. The jar files might run on Linux but the key component needed to download and install it is a Windows binary.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
So typical. Program is written in Java but packaged so it is Windows only defeating the main purpose of using Java in the first place.
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
You mean "Windows excels in that part of the attack vector a decade ago" FTFY. Seriously people Vista has been out nearly FIVE years, Windows 7 now for TWO years, did the DOS jokes continue into 2005?
So the moral of the story little childrens is this: stop running decade old shite and if you ARE gonna run decade old shite have a fricking brain about it and run a decent free AV (I'd recommend either Avast or Comodo as both have default sandboxing) along with not running every damned bit of code found in the backwoods of the Internet offering you free titties or money from a Nigerian prince. is that REALLY so hard?
As for TFA, count the days Linux guys, count the days. you already have the malware kit for OSX, and all those Android phones means malware writers finally have a reason to start snooping around. All those noobs you got on Ubuntu sure would be a nice little addition to their botnets wouldn't they? Count the days Linux guys, count the days until your DOOM!
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
I think my original point stands though. If it's so easy to compromise Linux, why isn't it being done? Why can't the very people who like to crow about how easy it is (and even hurl accusations of "security through obscurity") just put up or shut up?
I think we both know the answer to that. The PEBKAC is still there for the average user, no matter which system they use. But in Linux the system isn't designed to make it trivial to run any code from any location, as windows historically has been -- it's a bit better with 7 than it was previously, and XP SP3 is also a major improvement over previous versions. But it's still fairly trivial to generate windows malware, going by the sheer volume of infected machines. I personally have one person in my contacts running win7 whose machine is spamming me daily. Oops. Windows is still the lowest hanging fruit, and as criminals are pretty much always lazy people looking to get rich quick that's what they go for. When that's gone, they'll move on to other scams (assuming OS X has been locked down, otherwise that's hanging a bit low as it is). They will not learn to be 1337 for reelz and finally code that Linux virus. That's not the criminal MO.
Caveat Utilitor