Linux hack attacks on the rise

Hackers are increasingly targeting Web servers based on the Linux operating system, while the number of successful attacks on Windows systems decreases, according to a new report from U.K. system integrator Mi2g.

In the past, hackers and virus writers have largely focused their efforts on the Windows platform, as its dominance on desktop PCs makes it a ready target. However, Linux has a large share of the Web server market, and Linux server applications are often vulnerable to attack because of mismanagement, according to the study.

Mi2g has evidence of 7,630 successful attacks on Linux systems in the first six months of this year, sharply up from last year's 5,736 attacks. In the meantime, successful attacks on Windows systems running Microsoft's Internet Information Server have fallen by 20 percent from 11,828 in the first half of 2001 to 9,404 in the first half of this year.

The total number of successful attacks for the first six months of the year rose by 27 percent, from 16,007 last year to 20,371 in 2002.

News source: ZDNet