Posted on 09/11/2003 1:21:15 PM PDT by Salo
Linux, not Microsoft Windows, remains the most-attacked operating system, a British security company reports.
During August, 67 per cent of all successful and verifiable digital attacks against on-line servers targeted Linux, followed by Microsoft Windows at 23.2 per cent. A total of 12,892 Linux on-line servers running e-business and information sites were successfully breached in that month, followed by 4,626 Windows servers, according to the report.
Just 360 — less than 2 per cent — of BSD Unix servers were successfully breached in August.
The data comes from the London-based mi2g Intelligence Unit, which has been collecting data on overt digital attacks since 1995 and verifying them. Its database has tracked more than 280,000 overt digital attacks and 7,900 hacker groups.
Linux remained the most attacked operating system on-line during the past year, with 51 per cent of all successful overt digital attacks.
Microsoft Windows servers belonging to governments, however, were the most attacked (51.4 per cent) followed by Linux (14.3 per cent) in August.
The economic damage from the attacks, in lost productivity and recovery costs, fell below average in August, to $707-million (U.S.).
The overall economic damage in August from overt and covert attacks as well as viruses and worms stood at an all-time high of $28.2-billion.
The Sobig and MSBlast malware that afflict Microsoft platforms contributed significantly to the record estimate.
"The proliferation of Linux within the on-line server community coupled with inadequate knowledge of how to keep that environment secure when running vulnerable third-party applications is contributing to a consistently higher proportion of compromised Linux servers," mi29 chairman D.K. Matai said.
"Microsoft deserves credit for having reduced the proportion of successful on-line hacker attacks perpetrated against Windows servers."
Wanna be Penguified? Just holla!
Got root?
Them's the keywords.
Look up details on the SHATTER attacks on Windows systems-
No definite way to tell if your system's been hacked except for certain indicators which are by no means definitive, and no way to know that your system's secure after installing the patches.
DemocRATS claim Bush is responsible.
With today's smaller IT staffs, thanks to outsourcing and layoffs, it is extremely difficult to constantly apply MS, Linux, FreeBSD, or any series of patches for any OS across any company, ranging from a few dozen desktops and servers to hundreds of thousands of servers and desktops.
I am sure Linux is more attacked than windows, but the attacks are almost always a configuration (not update) related issue. If I leave my webserver open to the internet and not behind a firewall there could be trouble. Most sendmail server are running Linux so if you try to expolit an open relay chances are your going to hit a Linux box.
Compare Nimda to an apache vulnerability that came out at the same time (can think of what the name was) the Linux bug let an attacker bring down a website, no data loss. Nimda opend up any network shares to be read write by all and gave all accounts admin.
words in bold are always fun.
People keep referring to these bigots but I don't think I've never seen one.
London, UK - 14 August 2002, 11:30 GMT - mi2g The latest figures compiled by the Intelligence Unit at mi2g indicate that Windows has once again regained the position of most vulnerable online operating system.
....more here: http://mi2g.com/cgi/mi2g/frameset.php?pageid=http%3A//mi2g.com/cgi/mi2g/press/311002.php
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