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Ask Slashdot: Is GNU/Linux Malware a Real Threat?
New submitter m.alessandrini writes "I've been using Debian for a long time, and I'm not a novice at all; I install system updates almost daily, I avoid risky behaviors on Internet, and like all Linux users I always felt safe. Yesterday my webcam suddenly turned on, and turned off after several minutes. I'm pretty sure it was nothing serious, but I started thinking about malware. At work I use noscript and other tools, but at home I have a more relaxed browser to be used by other family members, too. Here I'm not talking about rootkits or privilege escalation (I trust Debian), I think more of normal user compromise. For example, these days much malware come from malicious scripts in sites, even in advertising banners inside trusted sites, and this is more 'cross-platform' than normal viruses. So, what about non-root user malware? How much could this be real? And how can you diagnose it?"
It would help if the manufacturers would preinfect their software so we could stop worry about "if" we are infected and move towards just accepting it.
*Disclaimer: I in no way work for, represent, or contract for Sony. (Sorry Sony lawyers made me add the preceding text.)
So you get GF / Wife vids of doing who knows what posted to the internet and you can now claim plausible deniability - smart move!
Yesterday my webcam suddenly turned on, and turned off after several minutes.
Hey, sorry about that. I was trying to get the girl next door that's leeching off your wifi. She's so cute! But when I turned on the webcam, I knew I had the wrong person. Also, dude, put some pants on. Nobody wants to see that.
Oh, and that stuff about Linux having malware? I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. The Year of the Linux Desktop hasn't come yet (though they say it'll be this summer for sure!), so you're safe. All the malware me and my friends at the Evil League of Evil make for Linux is designed to worm its way into web servers, ftp, etc., to spread malware to Windows boxes. We aren't interested in your personal life. You're a nerd, running Linux. We haven't found a single case of one of you having a life yet. Hell, you don't even have a decent car, man.
oh oh, gotta go, the webcam is up and... oooooh my....
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
luser$ sudo apt-get install rootkit
But I couldn't get the damn thing to compile!
Assuming you don't do silly things like run completely unknown commands, you're pretty safe. JavaScript and Flash is cross-platform, though. I've seen one Linux system where their Yahoo email account was compromised, probably by malicious JavaScript. It might have been phishing, though, or a combination. The main things I do for security are - run most updates provided by the distro and browser, have backups, don't run services I don't use, and I have a separate browser for Flash and Java. Most Flash is ads or pointless eyecandy so I don't miss not having Flash in my daily browser. Even YouTube doesn't need Flash these days, so I open the Flash browser maybe once per month, if that.
TEEX.com has some free online cybersecurity courses that may have good reminders for your and your family members regarding safe browsing habits and simple security practices.
I avoid risky behaviors on Internet
I don't think op has flash installed.
[...]turned on, and turned off after several minutes[...]
Even so, polling a webcam is a few seconds at most, not minutes.
Please, save up your money so you can buy a line feed or a paragraph tag.
2003 is calling? Don't forget to warn them about Vista and Windows 8!