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.

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Rootkits and Linux Security

    Your Linux system may not be so airtight after all. To understand the threats, you need to think like an intruder. We'll show you what the intruders are thinking now about the Linux 2.6 kernel.

  • chkrootkit

    Linux can be infected by rootkit malware that is hidden and hard to detect. The chkrootkit program can help find rootkit infections.

  • Kernel Rootkits

    Rootkits allow attackers to take complete control of a computer. We describe the tricks intruders use to gain access to the Linux kernel and provide guidelines on hardening the kernel against such attacks.

  • Host-Based IDS

    A host-based intrusion detection system is a simple but powerful tool for finding traces of an attacker's footprint.

  • Security Lessons

    We look at the history of the rootkit, including its newest incarnation, the DR RootKit.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News