Tony Arnold wrote: > Nik, > does not say all the attacks were viruses! > True > I've seen plenty of Linux/Unix systems compromised. The vast majority > have been compromised through weak passwords or user's password being > discovered. > As for any system, though we can see our security exploits more openly > Most attacks seem to result in the running of a IRC bot, which can then > be used to launch DDOS attacks or SPAM or whatever. > So . Hence my question.. how easy is it really to make a process from email to infection.
I can accept that firewalls and applications require user security and poor passwords make poor defences but should a desktop user be allowing port 22 or other overflow port to be open directly . Actually thats a key thought and the reason I wanted to have the conversation what should the Desktop environment come with as a locked down and locked out feature set. > I've also seen system utilities replaced with versions that hide the bad > software, so root access must have been gained somehow. > Yes me to but mostly on my servers with public facing or natted IPs. but not my Desktops. > The only thing I'm not sure about is whether any of this is > self-propagating. > No, theyre not.. but I have pleny of example script bots and scripts from infected machines that show how they scour and report back to the irc channel. Having recently fixed a relatives Win2k box though I had to confess that it would have been easier if I could have cleanly booted of a CD and managed the Disk from a seperate system , much like I do in Linux. There were work arounds but the Easy of Use and Innovative Intrgration that comes with Windows made it far to easy for automated programs. Most infections on Servers under linux have been non automated , user driven attacks by people whove found an exploit. So it gets harder for them to automate an attack . I suspect Metasploit will be the first to find a way through and when they do the arms race will step up a bit. However I dont expect to end up paying a "fee" to protect my system against problems inherent in the system in the first place and thats another good reason to be considering a alternative. Nik -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
