Staying one step ahead of the intruders
Delousing
After detecting a rootkit, the only thing that really helps is to completely reinstall the infected system – the malicious software digs far too deep into a system to let you remove it with any degree of certainty. In this light, it makes sense to do everything you can to prevent a rootkit from compromising your system. Prevention is the only real answer – particularly, installing security patches. To prevent malware exploiting them, you need to make sure that you close all known vulnerabilities.
Latest and Greatest
The principle of using the latest software also applies to rootkit scanners. Zeppoo [7] is almost two years old, for example, and fails to detect any of the current crop of rootkits due to total ignorance of their approaches. It is probably best to leave Zeppoo where it is on SourceForge.
The next best obstacle is a firewall, preferably one that controls network traffic in all layers of the TCP/IP stack. For servers in hostile environments, the use of a static kernel and an intrusion detection tool such as OSSEC.
Keep in mind, however, that humans are possibly the biggest attack vector for rootkits. If a user is enticed by phishing mails or enlargement offers, the best security mechanisms are no doubt doomed to failure.
Infos
- Blue Pill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Pill%28malware%29
- Chkrootkit: http://www.chkrootkit.org
- Rootkit Hunter: http://htp://rkhunter.sf.net
- OSSEC: http://www.ossec.net
- Rootcheck signatures: http://www.ossec.net/rootkits
- RK Profiler LX: http://www.trapkit.de/research/rkprofiler/index.html
- Zeppoo: http://sourceforge.net/projects/zeppoo
« Previous 1 2 3 4
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
News
-
KDE Plasma 6 Looks to Bring Basic HDR Support
The KWin piece of KDE Plasma now has HDR support and color management geared for the 6.0 release.
-
Bodhi Linux 7.0 Beta Ready for Testing
The latest iteration of the Bohdi Linux distribution is now available for those who want to experience what's in store and for testing purposes.
-
Changes Coming to Ubuntu PPA Usage
The way you manage Personal Package Archives will be changing with the release of Ubuntu 23.10.
-
AlmaLinux 9.2 Now Available for Download
AlmaLinux has been released and provides a free alternative to upstream Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
-
An Immutable Version of Fedora Is Under Consideration
For anyone who's a fan of using immutable versions of Linux, the Fedora team is currently considering adding a new spin called Fedora Onyx.
-
New Release of Br OS Includes ChatGPT Integration
Br OS 23.04 is now available and is geared specifically toward web content creation.
-
Command-Line Only Peropesis 2.1 Available Now
The latest iteration of Peropesis has been released with plenty of updates and introduces new software development tools.
-
TUXEDO Computers Announces InfinityBook Pro 14
With the new generation of their popular InfinityBook Pro 14, TUXEDO upgrades its ultra-mobile, powerful business laptop with some impressive specs.
-
Linux Kernel 6.3 Release Includes Interesting Features
Although it's not a Long Term Release candidate, Linux 6.3 includes features that will benefit end users.
-
Arch-Based blendOS Features Cool Trick
If you're looking for a Linux distribution that blends Linux, Android, and web apps together, blendOS might be what you're looking for.