Exercise care downloading fr. gnome look dot org

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1349678

Malicious script was discovered in screen saver download. Content since removed.

 

Malicious screensaver proves any OS's biggest vulnerability is sitting in the chair

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1349678

 

Re: Malicious screensaver proves any OS's biggest vulnerability is sitting in the chair

As a response to the title. This is nothing new it's always been between the Chair and the keyboard.

 

Re: Malicious screensaver proves any OS's biggest vulnerability is sitting in the chair

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=260188

 

Re: Malicious screensaver proves any OS's biggest vulnerability is sitting in the chair

Well, in defense of the users, this trojan was posted to a really well known and trusted site. Most people would never hesitate to trust gnome-look. Of course, experienced Linux users would know to never give a screensaver root access (it needed root to install), most Windows converts would think nothing of it since Windows often requires admin access for everything.

The lesson here: Never install software from outside the repositories and be very skeptical when something prompts you for the root password.

 

Not any more !!
2 exploits posted.

Devil's advocate here from a less expert POV:

Didnt know that>
I am a less experienced user: still heaps to learn.

Hhmm...interesting concept.
Lots of useful apps out there neh?

Very useful advice!!

Imho as a suddenly nervous enduser: this is a very interesting and ominous development and deserves close attention: targeted exploits.
Combination of techniques: 'trusted site', 'less experienced users'..sound familiar?

Any right click scan apps in *nix land ?? : would any have identified this as malware ??
Of course not
Any "hips" tools to notify re outgoing connections.

This a 'trojan' or 'rootkit' ?

Interested in hearing more I are.

 

Well, not much has changed. It has always been known that a user can destroy his own machine either purposely or inadvertently. If you install software that is malicious, no OS of any kind can prevent that. This is why we often preach to always use the main repositories if at all possible. 99% of the time you will find the software you need there.

The main thing to remember is that *nix OS's are still virtually immune from many threats that plague Windows like drive-bys, viruses and the like. However when it comes to you giving your root password to some unknown app, anything can happen. Again, *nix OS's cannot stop you from destroying yourself but it can stop automated attacks.