Hacking is by no means a new phenomenon; it has existed in one form or another since the 1960s. It is only for a portion of the time since then that hacking has been viewed as a crime and a situation that needs to be addressed. Here’s a look at some famous hacks over time: … Read more
In the early 2000s, more malicious activity started to appear in the form of more advanced attacks. In fact, in the first few years of the new millennium the aggressiveness of attacks increased, with many attacks criminally motivated. Malicious attacks that have occurred include the following, among many more: ■ Denial-of-service attacks ■ Manipulation of … Read more
As the story goes, the earliest hackers were a group of people who were passionate and curious about new technology. They were the equivalent of those modern-day individuals who not only want the latest technology, such as a smartphone or iPhone, but also want to learn all the juicy details about what the device does … Read more
A security organization in the U.K. says a group of Russian hackers is targeting research centers involved in COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine development. The adversary group is using spear-phishing to target the research centers, a practice that uses deception to get victims to click on links with hidden malware. These attacks come at a time when U.S.- and U.K.-based … Read more
When someone is watching over your shoulder, it’s second nature to cover up your keyboard before typing in a password on your computer, or even unlocking your phone if you still use a pin passcode. But there’s another place where you should be cautious: the front door. Hackers could be recording the sounds that your keys make … Read more
It is a process of identifying an individual and ensuring that the individual is the same who he/she claims to be. A typical method for authentication over internet is via username and password. With the increase in the reported cases of cyber crime by identity theft over internet, the organizations have made some additional arrangements … Read more
Ongoing patching is perhaps the best thing you can do to enhance and maintain the security of your Linux systems. Regardless of the Linux distribution you use, using a tool to assist in your patching efforts makes your job a lot easier. Distribution updates The distribution process is different on every distribution of Linux. You … Read more
You can assess critical, and often overlooked, security issues on your Linux systems, such as the following: Misconfigurations or unauthorized entries in the shadow password files, which could provide covert system access Password complexity requirements Users equivalent to root Suspicious automated tasks configured in cron, the script scheduler program Signature checks on system binary files … Read more
Some Linux vulnerabilities involve the bad guy actually being at the system console — something that’s entirely possible given the insider threats that every organization faces. Physical security hacks If an attacker is at the system console, anything goes, including rebooting the system (even if no one is logged in) by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. After the … Read more
RPC and other vulnerable daemons are common targets for buffer-overflow attacks. Buffer overflow attacks are often how the hacker can get in to modify system files, read database files, and more. Attacks In a buffer overflow attack, the attacker either manually sends strings of information to the victim Linux machine or writes a script to … Read more