Malicious code is nothing to worry about on Linux, right? Hold your penguins. How Linux malware has gone from the sidelines to the headlines.
Gone are the days when the idea of viruses or other malware hitting Linux was almost universally greeted with quizzical glances, if not outright rejection. Long thought of as the perfect marriage of open-source goodness and strong, Unix-like security, Linux-based operating systems are now increasingly seen as another valuable – and viable – target.
This shift in thinking is partly the result of a growing realization among both Linux hobbyists and system administrators that a compromised Linux system such as a web server provides attackers an excellent ‘return on investment’. Just as importantly, malware research in recent years has brought better visibility into threats facing Linux systems.
Admittedly, there’s still more than a kernel of truth in the popular wisdom that associates Linux with better, though not perfect, security. Importantly, however, this fails to distinguish between various flavors and use cases of Linux-based systems while also disregarding the existence of various platform-agnostic threats.
Linux distros for the desktop continue to be vastly outnumbered by Windows systems (and also by macOS machines, for that matter). This niche status certainly plays a role in the relative scarcity of Linux-based malware. But shift your gaze to public-facing servers and it becomes apparent that there’s far more malicious activity simmering under Linux‘s lid. Much the same could be said about all sorts of embedded devices, networking gear and Android smartphones that, too, are based on Linux in some form.
Let’s focus on servers here, ..
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