Linux Is Not As Safe As You Think (betanews.com)

BrianFagioli writes via BetaNews: Would you be surprised if I told you that threat methods for Linux increased an astonishing 300 percent in 2016, while Microsoft's operating systems saw a decrease? Well, according to a new report, that is true. Does this mean Linux is unsafe? No way, Jose! There are some important takeaways here. Microsoft's Windows operating systems are still the most targeted platforms despite the year over year decline -- far beyond Linux. Also, just because there is an increase in malware attack methods doesn't necessarily mean that more systems will be infected. Let us not forget that it is easier to find a vulnerability with open source too; Microsoft largely uses closed source code. "At the end of November, criminals with other variants of the same Linux malware unleashed devastating attacks against DSL routers of Telekom customers. 900,000 devices were taken down. In October, the Mirai code appeared freely available on the Internet. Since then, the AV-TEST systems have been investigating an increasing number of samples with spikes at the end of October, November and beginning of December," says AV Test of the Mirai malware. "Other Linux malware, such as the Tsunami backdoor, has been causing trouble for several years now and can be easily modified for attacks against IoT devices. The detection systems of AV-TEST first detected the Tsunami malicious code in the year 2003. Although, at that time, practically no IoT devices existed, the Linux backdoor already offered attack functions which even today would be suitable for virtually unprotected attacks on routers: In this manner, Tsunami can download additional malicious code onto infected devices and thus make devices remote controllable for criminals. But the old malware can also be used for DDoS attacks. The Darlloz worm, known since 2013, as well as many other Linux and Unix malware programs, have similar attack patterns which AV-TEST has been detecting and analyzing for years."

Comments

Re:FINALLY!!

[Rockoon]

I don't know how much swiss cheese Linux is, but I do know that as things like routers get more and more powerful, the desire to attack them will grow and grow.

Back before Win3.1+Winsock and Win95, there were almost weekly CERT advisories about unix-based exploits, but as Windows grew to dominate on the internet (at least by users) it switched to almost weekly CERT advisories about windows-based exploits.

It isnt that any of these things is secure. My money would be on OpenBSD being the most secure, but thats based on data collected in a world where hardly anybody would waste their time attacking BSD (even Apples BSD derivative gets more attention.)

I hope there is a return to ROM rather than FLASH/EEPROM for devices like home routers... but... I also hope the Democrat party disappears the way the Whigs did. Hope doesnt always translate into reality, but on both these issues there might be a chance.