Posted on 05/03/2015 4:36:44 PM PDT by Utilizer
For over 5 years, and perhaps even longer, servers around the world running Linux and BSD operating systems have been targeted by an individual or group that compromised them via a backdoor Trojan, then made them send out spam, ESET researchers have found.
What's more, it seems that the spammers are connected with a software company called Yellsoft, which sells DirectMailer, a "system for automated e-mail distribution" that allows users to send out anonymous email.
This operation succeeded in remaining hidden for so long thanks to several factors: the sophistication of the malware used, its stealth and persistence, the fact the spammers aren't constantly infecting new machines, and that each of the infected machines wasn't made to blast out spam all the time.
The researcher began their investigation with a piece of malware they found on a server that was blacklisted for sending spam. They dubbed it Mumblehard. After analyzing it, they found that it has several distinct components: a generic backdoor that contacts its C&C server and downloads the spammer component and a general purpose-proxy.
(Excerpt) Read more at net-security.org ...
Huh? You mean it’s better to have a false sense of security vice overly worried for no rational reason?
Different strokes for different folks I guess. I personally take a balanced approached. Concerned that all systems are vulnerable so I practice good security practices to minimize my risk for all systems I use.
Stools is a free download. For those that want it. It's mostly for developers.
Thats good practice. What is not good practice is to have a system that you think is so vulnerable to viruses that you find yourself destroying the utility of it by running bloatware antivirus programs. And then giving up on antivirus because it is such a hassle - then panicking when someone erroneously tells you - in good faith - that something is wrong with your system.Running a system which you have confidence in enables you to come the closest you can to best practice. For me, thats OS X.
You, OTOH, may be quite well grounded in the ins and outs of Windows, and happy in that environment - excepting only that it is still enough of a hassle that seeing others avoid some of that hassle causes a visceral reaction in you. You have invested so much time and attention, and money, in Windows security that you need to believe that anyone who places their trust in anything else is being a simpleton.
Or so it seems to me, simpleton that I may be.
What do you run it on?
A 5K iMac.
Even Apple doesn't use OSX or Apple hardware for it's data center servers.
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