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:Ah, the PRICE of fame (always the same)... apk

[Bert64]

Linux has been attacked for years, there have been rootkits and exploits out there since the early days of slackware... Linux has had a significant presence on servers almost since its inception, and is now starting to make inroads in many other markets.

On the other hand, what people think of as "linux" in this context is a multitude of different versions of the linux kernel with various modifications and all manner of different userlands running on top. Literally anyone can build a linux-based system and pile whatever garbage software they like on top of an ancient version of the kernel.
Windows on the other hand comes from one place, in a small set of versions, and all of the vulnerabilities attributed to windows are present in this version and usually in a default configuration.

Microsoft fully control the versions of windows being released, and if a third party produces a device that bundles a windows install but has some additional vulnerable software running on top of it or a stupid default configuration (eg default passwords) that vulnerability is blamed on the device vendor and not on windows.

There are no shortage of such devices, and they routinely get compromised not only due to their own poor configuration but also because of vulnerabilities in windows itself (eg eternalblue).

When it comes to embedded devices, Linux is massively more widespread than windows, most people are likely to have more linux devices than windows and usually don't even realise it, only a subset of these devices are getting compromised because the manufacturers of those devices make stupid mistakes when building them and then fail to either provide updates, or provide a user-friendly way to apply them.