Apt28 Virus

[megosdog]

https://www.macworld.com/article/323...s-malware.html

Just heard about this today. Is Malware actually starting to get a foothold in Linux, or is this whole malware thing just a scare tactic by the big corps who are once again trying to discredit Linux as a superior OS, or at the very least marginalize it and scare people away by saying, "See? You're not better than us!" Given the historically solid nature of Linux security, I'd find that shocking if it was actually becoming less secure than it once was. What do you guys think about this?

[Snowhog]

macOS isn't "pure" Linux/Unix; it's built/based upon same, but 'not' the same.

What is reported there isn't directly, 100% relatable to Linux.

[GreyGeek]

While reading that article did anyone get a sudden impulse to buy "BitDefender"

Windows and Mac are closed eco systems protected by the belief that the obscurity of the source code equals safety.

Linux adopted the Open Source paradigm. When a bug is discovered it is reported ASAP and posted on the Ubuntu Security Notices website (similar to CVE postings). For example, a DNS issue was discovered in Ubuntu 17.04 and 17.10 which caused systemd to stop responding.
https://usn.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-3466-1/
Those affected are given links to the systemd packages necessary to fix the issue. Usually, however, even though that bug was reported TODAY, I suspect that the updated packages have already been uploaded to their respective repositories and an automatic install triggered.

Moral: keep your system fully updated, don't install alien software, use good passwords or phrases, and stay away from the Deep Web and pron sites. Don't run as root. Keep your ufw up and running, either on your router or your laptop, and when you are not using a port, like 25565 for Minecraft, disable it. Have rtkhunter and/or chkrootkit running as a daily cron service. Personally, I haven't had a single Linux malware infection in the 19 years I've been running Linux.

As far as IOS goes, I don't update to the cloud and I don't use any cloud. I connect my iPhone to this laptop and copy my files over. Then I move them to external storage and delete them from my laptop.

As far as Windows goes, I haven't used it it years, but I do replace it with Kubuntu on friends computers, after they've paid several times to get the Windows malware off of it.

[oshunluvr]

...and take regular snapshots and make backups - just in case.

[GreyGeek]

...and take regular snapshots and make backups - just in case.

THAT, of course, for those that are using Btrfs.

For example, a few months ago I extensively tested P2P networking systems and in doing so linked my computer up to over 500 people storing their 200+Mb webpages and files on my Btrfs pool. Because of the encrypted nature of P2P systems, while there were over 500 links, I had no clue as to what was in the files and had no way of finding out. I knew that in advance so before I began the testing I created backups of @ and @home. When I was done it took me less than five minutes to roll back to the state my system was in before I began the testing.

Currently, it is not possible to use ZFS as a root filesystem during a regular install of Ubuntu or any derivative. One can use some elaborate procedures that uses a temporary EXT4 fs to create a root ZFS but most users of Ubuntu/Kubuntu/etc... would not have the ability to do that. When OpenZFS does become a selectable FS during the install of Kubuntu it will be the end of EXT4 on Kubuntu, IMO. Maybe that will be in the 18.04 or 18.10 release.

One can currently create a server that uses ZFS, using EXT4 to boot, and that's the only way I'd use a server today.

When ZFS becomes ready as a root fs install we will have two excellent file systems to choose from. Sorry, Oshunluver, but IF I live long enough for ZFS to be a selectable fs during the install I will be switching to it.

[jglen490]

It doesn't matter what filesystem you use, yes, do a backup of some kind. There's plenty of backup software available in the *buntu repos. I use rsync routinely, but use what you want - take care of your data. GreyGeek and I may not use the same filesystem, but I agree with him on this - avoid the cloud like the plague it is.

[megosdog]

Thanks guys, I kinda figured it was more or less a red herring and not a real issue. Also, the backup issue is huge too. I can't tell you how many people have come to me with crashed systems begging that I fix them, only to have to tell them, "Sorry, you'll have to restore from backup." "But I don't have any backups!" "Well, then sucks being you." :P Believe me, when someone gets burned hard and loses all their data, and this only needs to happen once and be hugely impacting, they will learn to start doing regular backups after that. Too bad it takes an event like that with most people to wake them up to the need for backups. Myself, I just installed a brand new Qnap NAS on my network for regular backups as my PC is finally getting ready to give up the ghost. So I'm just limping it along for now and staying on top of the backups in preparation for the day it goes tits up. The crazy part is that, since I'm such a hard core minimalist, that poor 3TB NAS is a massive echo chamber right now as I'm not even using 1/20th of its space. lol.

:P

[SpecialEd]

>>>>>>>>>> Believe me, when someone gets burned hard and loses all their data, and this only needs to happen once and be hugely impacting, they will learn to start doing regular backups after that. >>>>>>>>>>

:P

If only... Some people never get it and go from one disaster to the next and still can't be bothered.

[GreyGeek]

If only... Some people never get it and go from one disaster to the next and still can't be bothered.

And they are the ones who always blame the OS or the hardware.

Once *most* people experience the ease and speed that Btrfs affords when backing up or rolling back they’ll never use EXT4 again.

Less than 30 seconds for a backup and 3 minutes for a rollback.

Run out of disk space and can’t add or remove packages? Stick a big USB stick in and add it to the pool. Do all the necessary cleanups and then delete the stick from the pool. Or, install another HD or SSD and permanently add it to the pool.

With Btrfs you don’t have to guesstimate how much space to give /root or /home or any other mount point because you don’t need to. Want to create a “partition” (subvolume) to organize your music database, or your dev tools and source code? Create a subvolume at the @ and @home level and then add a line in fstab binding it to /music or /devtools at boot. Then you can backup or rollback that specific subvolume in seconds without touching the rest of your system. Do it to or from the cloud? Takes longer but just as easy.


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