Tools to prevent drive-by attacks
Barricades
You won't find a perfect solution to the growing problem of drive-by attacks, but many tools are available to help you keep malicious code off your network.
Cover Stories
Attackers have an easy time on today's Internet. Intruders of the past needed to circumvent troublesome firewalls and other protective devices, but today, they only need to entice an unsuspecting user into accessing a web server prepared with malware or send a malicious link through email, text, or an instant messaging service. Contact details for reaching the potential victims can usually be retrieved from social networks such as Xing. And QR codes are ideal for distributing malware links: The reader has no way to even guess where the code might by pointing.
Many of these attack methods exploit the fact that Web 2.0 tools are installed on nearly every workstation and mobile device, including a web browser and plugins such as Flash Player, Java, and Adobe Reader. Browsers or plugins almost always contain vulnerabilities that are then exploitable using special attack tools installed on the web server. The goal of these attacks is to infect the client with malware and then misuse the client system by adding it to a botnet or using it as a bridgehead for access to other resources on the network. The attack is usually completely transparent and goes unnoticed by the user. This style of attack is often called a drive-by download (see the "How a Drive-By Attack Works" box). In the opinion of ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency), drive-by downloads are currently the biggest threat on the Internet [1].
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
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.
News
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.