V-Tech Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Malware certainly exists for Linux, but it's more frequently targeted at servers than everyday PCs. Unfortunately, regular users now have more reason to worry: a rare instance of a Linux desktop trojan, Hand of Thief, has surfaced in the wild. The code swipes banking logins and other web sign-in details, creates a backdoor and prevents access to both antivirus tools and virtual machines. It's known to work with common browsers like Chrome and Firefox as well as 15 Linux distributions, including Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu. Thankfully, Hand of Thief is partly neutered by its limited attack methods; it relies on social engineering to fool victims into installing the software themselves. Even so, the trojan is a reminder that we shouldn't be complacent about security, regardless of which platform we use. http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/09/trojan-targets-linux-desktop-users/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted August 10, 2013 Member Share Posted August 10, 2013 Thankfully, Hand of Thief is partly neutered by its limited attack methods; it relies on social engineering to fool victims into installing the software themselves Nothing can save the foolish. f0rk_b0mb, Tews and Davo 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LogicalApex MVC Posted August 10, 2013 MVC Share Posted August 10, 2013 The weakest link in security will forever be the user. f0rk_b0mb 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperAFK Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Yeah, you'd have to be a total idiot to install this. f0rk_b0mb 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 That'll teach those Linux people :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 You'd have to find a knob to be able to run Linux as your daily, yet still install obvious malware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Eh it's nothing unique.. if you can trick somebody into doing something stupid, they're boned regardless what OS they're running, nothing is bulletproof. Just going to see more of this if Linux's desktop numbers go up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f0rk_b0mb Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 ?Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.? -- Albert Einstein yowanvista, Max Norris and Sadelwo 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted August 10, 2013 MVC Share Posted August 10, 2013 People running linux usually aren't your average user, so they should be smart enough not to install this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Anyone running Linux isn't your average user, so they should be smart enough not to install this.Not necessarily.. I set my neighbor up with a XFCE desktop specifically because he kept falling for malware designed to trick people.. simple ones like the "you need to install this codec to view the video" gag for example. Sooner or later there's going to be more people using it on the desktop (more users, more malware), and with the internals of a Linux being less familiar to the majority of people it'll probably be even easier. "Just double-click this .deb" or "install my PPA" and such. "Run this script to unlock free games on Steam." Don't worry about the sudo password, it's just like telling UAC it's ok, we promise it's safe. Presto, malware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted August 11, 2013 Veteran Share Posted August 11, 2013 Glad to see this!I have tried running Windows malware using wine for over 15 years now with precious little success. Now it seems that I can not feel so left out. >.>On the serious side, trojans have existed for a while, from tricking a friend to run a bash script with an rm -rf / in it to something more sophisticated like this. Tricking people into running malicious code using deception and social engineering is not new. +Majesticmerc 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney T. Administrators Posted August 11, 2013 Administrators Share Posted August 11, 2013 ^ Unbelievable! Mark is back in the house. And the world rejoices! Welcome back, my great friend!! :punk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharpGreen Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Eh it's nothing unique.. if you can trick somebody into doing something stupid, they're boned regardless what OS they're running, nothing is bulletproof. Just going to see more of this if Linux's desktop numbers go up. Try telling that to Mac users, who mostly think they're immune to viruses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted August 11, 2013 Veteran Share Posted August 11, 2013 ^ Unbelievable! Mark is back in the house. And the world rejoices! Welcome back, my great friend!! :punk: Hahaha! Three Four posts since 2010. I'm hardly burning up the servers. :shiftyninja: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Majesticmerc MVC Posted August 11, 2013 MVC Share Posted August 11, 2013 Regardless of OS, user coercion is pretty much the only way of getting Malware onto a PC nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kreuger Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 ^ Unbelievable! Mark is back in the house. And the world rejoices! Welcome back, my great friend!! :punk: Indeed! So on topic, we need some more info. Does it install as a root user or standard? Will it affect all users in a multi user system? What can we do to block it from accessing private data aside from not installing the software? Etc. This just comes across as "hey linux users, you're unsafe too!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggis Veteran Posted August 11, 2013 Veteran Share Posted August 11, 2013 Indeed! So on topic, we need some more info. Does it install as a root user or standard? Will it affect all users in a multi user system? What can we do to block it from accessing private data aside from not installing the software? Etc. This just comes across as "hey linux users, you're unsafe too!" more info about it here https://blogs.rsa.com/thieves-reaching-for-linux-hand-of-thief-trojan-targets-linux-inth3wild/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted August 11, 2013 Veteran Share Posted August 11, 2013 Indeed! So on topic, we need some more info. Does it install as a root user or standard? Will it affect all users in a multi user system? What can we do to block it from accessing private data aside from not installing the software? Etc. This just comes across as "hey linux users, you're unsafe too!" SJVN posted a blog article here: http://www.zdnet.com/linux-desktop-trojan-hand-of-thief-steals-in-7000019175/ that explains more. It sounds from the description that since it must be installed, it has to have root permissions from the user to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dick Montage Subscriber² Posted August 11, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted August 11, 2013 People running linux usually aren't your average user, so they should be smart enough not to install this. More and more people are tuning "mum and dad's old pc" into Ubuntu machines (or similar)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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