So, there is a Linux zombie network...

[elfs]

As it turns out, there is a Linux zombie network. It's called Psyb0t. It infects cable modems and home routers, which you never turn off, and gives whatever nefarious person running the network the capability to hack into your home network, monitor all traffic going through it, and exploit any passwords you send. Nefarious, stealthy, and evil. There's a reason I run a small, home-based, home-made router with my own monitoring software. A layer of security through defensive obsolescence.

Almost all home-based routers from Linksys and Netgear are based on an old distro of Linux with a weak password that makes it easy to hack. Sad, but true. Updates are available on Netgear and Linksys's websites, and the latest versions have patched the hole.

Here's what annoys me: every report I could find on Psyb0t mentions that it's a "Linux zombie network". Yet nobody calls MyDoom, the five year old virus that makes up the current denial-of-service attack, a "Windows zombie network". Why not?

Comments

[jenk]

Linux is uncommon and therefore noted.

[blackcoat.livejournal.com]

Because Microsoft paid a lot of money to develop Psyb0t, and they're going to squeeze all the PR out of i tthat they can?

[codeamazon.livejournal.com]

Because Linux folks are more likely to be fans of Zombies?

[mundens.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that this is old news, and the botnet was disabled back in March by shutting down it's control channel.

Also it's not really a "Linux" zombie network, it's a "little-endian MIPS processor running Linux" zombie network. It's more a hardware exploit than an operating system one, relying on the architecture of the MIPS chip to allow the attack on the OS. So it really_only_ infects routers, and other commodity electronics that use MIPS chips, your Intel, PowerPC, or AMD server running Linux cannot be affected by this exploit.

[(Anonymous)]

Five-year-old Windows virus still works?

Wow, Microsoft does place a high priority on retaining compatibility with old software in new versions of Windows. :-)