Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Quick to answer questions about finding your way around Linux Mint as a new user.
Forum rules
There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions use the other forums in the support section.
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
cliffcoggin
Level 8
Level 8
Posts: 2300
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2016 6:40 pm
Location: England

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by cliffcoggin »

Vilsen wrote: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:23 am I watch startling and scary videos on YouTube about viruses,
MALWARE and: ransomware that manage to get into the LINUX environment.
Do you also watch videos about the flat Earth, zero point energy, the power of crystals, abduction by aliens, perpetual motion machines?
Cliff Coggin
Vilsen
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 982
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:45 am

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by Vilsen »

Thanks all !

I now read CAREFULLY through everything that is written by
everyone and do an EVALUATION. If after this I find more "question marks", I will return.

No one commented:



Speaking of ransomware like wannacry and others that encrypt your files:

Can't there be any program in the background which is monitoring
if you or something starts an encryption

and put a stop for this BEFORE it happens?

With a question about YOU are the ones who do the encryption?
Vilsen
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 982
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:45 am

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by Vilsen »

and what about:

The

chkrootkit security scanner

searches the local system for signs that it is infected with a 'rootkit'. Rootkits are set of programs and hacks designed to take control of a target machine by using known security flaws.

??
User avatar
MikeNovember
Level 7
Level 7
Posts: 1833
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2020 7:37 am
Location: Nice, Paris, France

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by MikeNovember »

Vilsen wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 6:46 am
No one commented:

Speaking of ransomware like wannacry and others that encrypt your files:

Can't there be any program in the background which is monitoring
if you or something starts an encryption

and put a stop for this BEFORE it happens?

With a question about YOU are the ones who do the encryption?
Hi,

Program running is the background is an antivirus program with on access scanning. If updated (and if the ransomware does not use undisclosed "zero day" vulnerability), antivirus program will try to prevent opening the corrupted files, for ransomware and other kinds of malware.

Now, SOHO users offer is very limited: free and OpenSource Clamav or pay Dr Web (NB: I don't know how clamav compares to Dr Web). Other OpenSource tools (rkhunter, chkrootkit and Linux Malware Detect) are on-demand scanners only, and will not prevent anything.
Note that Clamav is slow, even when running its daemon version, and to use it to protect the whole system (to scan each file read or written) would probably prevent normal system use. Moreover, Clamav log is plenty of errors unless you remove from scan most of system sensitive directories...
Since downloaded files and e-mail attachments are generally found in Downloads directory, an access scan of this directory is feasible and may increase security.

As I mentioned it, sandboxing internet apps is useful to increase the difficulty to exploit a vunerability.

Still increased protection would be to virtualize internet access, and build in a virtual machine (VirtualBox, VMware Player) a guest operating system dedicated to internet use: in case of any problem, this virtual machine would be compromized, not the host (main one). It is easy to do, websites such as osboxes even offer to download pre-built Virtual Box or VMware images of tens of free operating systems.

Much more efficient protection exists: in Ubuntu and Mint SELinux is not activated (while it is in Fedora, Redhat...); it is even not maintained in Ubuntu (user who woud want to install it should install Debian one). SELinux is a Mandatory Access Control (MAC) system which is a kernel (LSM) enhancement to confine programs to a limited set of resources. It would prevent ransomware encryption. It is more used in a professional environment than by SOHO users and requires a complete configuration.

Regards,

MN
_____________________________
Linux Mint 21.3 Mate host with Ubuntu Pro enabled, VMware Workstation Player with Windows 10 Pro guest, ASUS G74SX (i7-2670QM, 16 GB RAM, GTX560M with 3GB RAM, 1TB SSD).
gittiest personITW
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 4287
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 4:27 pm

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by gittiest personITW »

Not once has anyone on this forum have a bona fide virus/malware/rootkit/ransomware in the last 5 years. I couldn't be bothered looking before that but reckon that the result can be extrapolated.

Yes, sandbox and backup and, most importantly, be careful on the internet - don't click the sexy lady,man or other, banners. Don't open strange attachments. etc etc. If you need to be schooled on this then let us know and I''m sure someone will point you to a concise page on what not to do.
Beware that a recent vulnerability exposed files in the same folder that were sandboxed in firejail, but this is likely to have been a theoretical rather than acted upon vulnerability that was fixed.
Sometimes it can be hard to spend your time quivering in the corner worried about very unlikely occurrences rather than just getting on with things - but if you make the effort to just get on with it, it will be worth it.

One more thing - a very unbiased look at antivirus in Linux. - viewtopic.php?f=90&t=358408
Make your own decision.

Keep well.
Roger, over and out.
dorsetUK
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 933
Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2019 4:40 am

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by dorsetUK »

gittiest personITW wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:14 pm Not once has anyone on this forum have a bona fide virus/malware/rootkit/ransomware in the last 5 years. I couldn't be bothered looking before that but reckon that the result can be extrapolated.
Well said gittiest personITW. +1 - and more.
User avatar
Lady Fitzgerald
Level 15
Level 15
Posts: 5695
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 3:12 pm
Location: AZ, SSA (Squabbling States of America)

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by Lady Fitzgerald »

MikeNovember wrote: Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:39 am ...5th layer: backups

You should be able to recover from any "catastrophic" situation with backups.
- System backups: with tools such as Foxclone, Clonezilla or System rescue, launched from a boot CD-ROM / DVD or USB key.
- System snapshots, done with Timeshift.
- Home backups, done with a differential backup tool such as FreeFileSync.
Think to the way you will backup / restore even before installing your distro. On my installation, I have three partitions ('/', '/home' and swap) to make backup / restore easier.

Noah built his ark before the flood...

Regards,

MN
While Mike's entire post was full of valuable tips, this part, in my not so humble opinion, is the most valuable. While this part is already excellent, I have a few tidbits to add.

Under tools, I would add Rescuezilla, a tool that's far more user friendly to Clonezilla. While Foxclone is probably the best, it occasionally will not work with some NVIDIA equipped computers making Rescuezilla is an excellent choice. I've been using it for a while now. There are a couple of different versions so you may have to try them both to see which one works best on your machine.

I'm a huge fangirl of FreeFileSync and have been using it for years. Once you get over the slight hump of the learning curve and have your profiles set up, you couldn't have an easier to use program for backing up data. It's free and it has a website with a manual, tutorials, and a user forum. It works by comparing the drive or partition you are backing up with the backup drive, then copies to and deletes data from the backup drive as needed to make the backup drive essentially a clone of the original drive. After the initial backup, updates can be very fast since only new, changed, and deleted files are the only ones involved in the update.

Two features of FreeFileSync I highly recommend using is Versioning and Verify. When enabled, Versioning will send files deleted from the backup drive to a user designated versioning folder. This protects you from losing data that was accidentally deleted or became corrupted. Verify is an unauthorized feature that, when enabled, will have FreeFileSync verify each copy to ensure no mistakes were made. It involves a safe, simple hack to a hidden FreeFileSync XMl file. If interested, let me know and I'll post directions for it.

What Mike said about planning for backups before installing Mint is very important. I always recommend keeping the system and data segregated to allow using the most efficient tools for backups. My laptop has room for four drives; two M.2 NVMe drives and two 2.5" SATA drives. I have my system installed on one M.2 drive and, other than my calendar and sticky note programs which insist on storing their data in the system (fortunately, they take up little room and can be backed up elsewhere), I keep no data on that drive. All y data is kept on the other three drives. This way, I can backup the system using Timeshift and Rescuezilla and backup the data using FreeFileSync.

The notebook I have Mint installed on is a one drive wonder so I set aside the bulk of the drive for a separate data partition, then installed Mint in the remaining space. This keeps my data segregated from the system and lets me use Timeshift and Rescuezilla to backup the system and FreeFileSync to backup the data.

Also, backups must be kept on external drives that are kept powered down, disconnected from the computer, and stored away from the computer so malware can't get on the backups, rendering them useless. Ideally, data must exist in three, separate places (although two is better than only one) to be reasonably safe. Usually, this is on drives in the computer, on external backup drives kept onsite, and on external backup drives kept offsite. The onsite and offsite drives should be swapped as often as practical to keep both as up to date as possible.

I love this line of Mike's at the end (and I'm so going to steal it); "Noah built his ark before the flood." It is so true and applicable here! As long as you have backups, you can always recover your data no matter how you lose it.
Jeannie

To ensure the safety of your data, you have to be proactive, not reactive, so, back it up!
User avatar
MikeNovember
Level 7
Level 7
Posts: 1833
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2020 7:37 am
Location: Nice, Paris, France

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by MikeNovember »

Hi,

@Lady Fitzgerald: thank you for your comments.

Concerning backups I wrote this issued attached to mintbackup on Linux Mint github https://github.com/linuxmint/mintbackup/issues/78. It explains my view about backups:
1. Mintbackup is a simple backup but suffers of a great defect: it is not a differential backup; it is well adapted to users with a small size home, but not adapted to users with a large size home; as an example, my home has a size of 260 GB; a backup of my home with mintbackup would take hours.
Suggestion: change mintbackup to a differential backup (1st use: all the files are backed; next uses: only the files that have changed are backed). See an example of such a program with FreeFileSync, https://freefilesync.org/.

2. Backup policy is not clearly defined and explained in Linux Mint:
* Timeshift can make system snapshots, is a differential tool; it could also make user home files snapshots. It can be used to recover system crashes in most of cases, but not in all cases.
* Mintbackup is presented as a user home backup; it could also make system files backup, though it does not backup hidden or empty directories (cache and config directories are not copied).
* There is no system backup tool such as Foxclone or Clonezilla.
* The default installation of Linux Mint creates one partition only for '/' and '/home', hampering system backup (as an example, my '/' + '/home' has a size of 272 GB; I can make system backup because '/' and '/home' are in two separate partitions, and the backup of my 12 GB'/' takes a few minutes only).
Suggestion:
* Change the default installation to separate '/' and '/home' partitions.
* Add a system backup tool, such as Foxclone, https://www.foxclone.com/, available when running LinuxMint as a live session from DVD or USB key.
Make changes to mintbackup (differential backup, backup of all files and directories in user home) or replace it with a tool such as FreeFileSync.
* Explain the backup policy:
a) make a periodic global system backup ('/' partition) on an external disk, using the DVD or USB key in live session, making the backup on an external disk; periodicity: few (2 to 4) weeks.
b) make a periodic differential system snapshot with Timeshift, from an installed session, making the snapshot on an external disk; periodicity: 2 or 3 days, or at each major change (kernel...); user keeps the two latest snapshots.
c) make a periodic differential user home backup, from an installed session, making the backup on an external disk: periodicity: 2 or 3 days, or after each new important document / video / photos sets etc.
* Explain the restore policy:
a) after a system problem, attempt to restore system with Timeshift, if it can be launched; if it works: OK stop; if not, see below.
b) after a system crash, or if Timeshift does not succeed in restoring system, boot on live DVD or live USB key and restore the system with the backup / restore tool (Foxclone, Clonezilla...). Then update the system with Timeshift using the latest working system snapshot.
c) restore user home with the differential tool or with the file manager
NB: Why backups on an external disk? in case of physical crash of system HDD or SSD backup will still be available.

Latest suggestion: add some repair tools on Mint Live session (partition making / repair / resizing; GRUB repair; boot sector repair...). The Mint install DVD or USB key would so become also a backup and repair tool.
You can create a github account and then comment this issue on Mint github.

Regards,

MN
_____________________________
Linux Mint 21.3 Mate host with Ubuntu Pro enabled, VMware Workstation Player with Windows 10 Pro guest, ASUS G74SX (i7-2670QM, 16 GB RAM, GTX560M with 3GB RAM, 1TB SSD).
User avatar
MikeNovember
Level 7
Level 7
Posts: 1833
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2020 7:37 am
Location: Nice, Paris, France

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by MikeNovember »

gittiest personITW wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:14 pm Not once has anyone on this forum have a bona fide virus/malware/rootkit/ransomware in the last 5 years. I couldn't be bothered looking before that but reckon that the result can be extrapolated.
Hi,

This is a comment I see very often. Note that this comment is also true for MacOS or Windows on their users forums...

Users report their problems on forums when their computer is blocked or malfunctions, or when they know their computer is infected and look for ways to get rid of virus.

In fact, viruses / malware have changed. In the 90's, you knew your computer had been infected: it had been erased. There were viruses generators programs, and any script kiddie could write its own virus by ticking on some choices and have the impression to be a great pirate. It has changed: operating systems security has strongly improved.

Today, writing a virus / malware is a difficult and time consuming task. People don't do it any longer for fun, but for money, and malware / viruses are very discrete and difficult to detect.

A few examples:
- cryptominers: they don't prevent the use of your computer; when connected to internet, one part of your CPU / GPU power is used to mine bitcoins or ethereums.
- zombies botnets: your computer is controlled at distance; the botnet is rent to people wanting to make a DDOS (distributed denial of service) against a website.

In most of cases you don't know you are infected.

You can detect you are infected the following ways:
- indirect signs (fans are constantly at their maximum; internet traffic seems slow...),
- then you go to system monitor, you read the logs (CPU use, network use, firewall, system); you may add probes (traffic analysis, intrusion detection...) and read the probes logs,
- you use a malware / virus scanner, security audit tools.
Unless you use tools, it is difficult to say your computer is infected or not.

Of course, if your computer is a victim of ransomware you will know it! Fortunately, it arrives seldom since organizations are more targeted than SOHO users: organizations can pay, much. And if malware has stolen your bitcoins you will know it looking at your wallet!

As an example, "Font On Lake" has been recently analysed, but two things are still unknown: how it installs on a Linux computer, and what is its useful load. Computers infected by "Font On Lake" still function, and users don't know they are infected unless they use an antivirus program.

Regards,

MN
Last edited by MikeNovember on Fri Oct 15, 2021 4:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
_____________________________
Linux Mint 21.3 Mate host with Ubuntu Pro enabled, VMware Workstation Player with Windows 10 Pro guest, ASUS G74SX (i7-2670QM, 16 GB RAM, GTX560M with 3GB RAM, 1TB SSD).
User avatar
Moem
Level 22
Level 22
Posts: 16193
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:14 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by Moem »

MikeNovember wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:30 am
gittiest personITW wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:14 pm Not once has anyone on this forum have a bona fide virus/malware/rootkit/ransomware in the last 5 years. I couldn't be bothered looking before that but reckon that the result can be extrapolated.
Hi,

This is a comment I see very often. Note that this comment is also true for MacOS or Windows on their users forums...
That's quite a statement! Would you care to back it up?
Image

If your issue is solved, kindly indicate that by editing the first post in the topic, and adding [SOLVED] to the title. Thanks!
User avatar
MikeNovember
Level 7
Level 7
Posts: 1833
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2020 7:37 am
Location: Nice, Paris, France

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by MikeNovember »

Moem wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:53 am
MikeNovember wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:30 am
gittiest personITW wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:14 pm Not once has anyone on this forum have a bona fide virus/malware/rootkit/ransomware in the last 5 years. I couldn't be bothered looking before that but reckon that the result can be extrapolated.
Hi,

This is a comment I see very often. Note that this comment is also true for MacOS or Windows on their users forums...
That's quite a statement! Would you care to back it up?
Hi,

What would you want I back up?

On this Linux Mint forum and on other Linux users forums, in thread related to viruses, some people write "no user reports malware or virus infection", with an implicit meaning "so the problem does not exist".

On other forum users, dedicated to MacOS or Windows, very few users report viruses infection, and some users arrive to the same opinion.

In both cases, it is my own conclusion as a forum reader, and I can't back-it up more precisely.

As a home user of Linux, Windows and MacOS the last time one of my computers has been infected by a virus was in 1995, this does not mean viruses do not exist...

Looking back at my professional experience, I remind several infections, including viruses migrating from unprotected development systems to software delivered to customer, and that's never good when customer is the 1st to detect it.

As a Linux Mint user, I know that, on February 2016, ISOs of Linux Mint 17.3 have been compromised with a backdoor and replaced. I also know that Linux Mint forum has been compromised and users personal data stolen (maybe it is the reason why Linux Mint websites are protected now by sucuri).

Regards,

MN
_____________________________
Linux Mint 21.3 Mate host with Ubuntu Pro enabled, VMware Workstation Player with Windows 10 Pro guest, ASUS G74SX (i7-2670QM, 16 GB RAM, GTX560M with 3GB RAM, 1TB SSD).
gittiest personITW
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 4287
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 4:27 pm

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by gittiest personITW »

Moem wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:53 am
MikeNovember wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:30 am
gittiest personITW wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:14 pm Not once has anyone on this forum have a bona fide virus/malware/rootkit/ransomware in the last 5 years. I couldn't be bothered looking before that but reckon that the result can be extrapolated.
Hi,

This is a comment I see very often. Note that this comment is also true for MacOS or Windows on their users forums...
That's quite a statement! Would you care to back it up?
Hi Moem,
As to my statement, I just did a search on this site and 'flicked' through a majority of the many posts (some were done in the past when I was a little more worried about such things).
Given that not one of the 'very experienced' people and longer term members of the forum have picked up on a definite infection by a virus that is in the wild that is active on SOHO machines through remote access, along with no 'Newsflash' of there being such problems, I am quite fine with sticking by that statement. Of course - if a virus would hit our OS tomorrow, I might hide my head in shame.
If there was an instance of this happening, it would be mentioned quite regularly.

Having been on a few MS tech sites in the past, malware does definitely, become a problem for some Windows users, or at least it did before Win8 (Don't know after that, and don't particularly care). To Windows users who didn't (Win7 and previous) use AV/antimalware etc and haven't got a virus or malware, then well done but maybe they should have run some scans to pro-actively find some lurking on their system.
There does seem to be an almost religious/political divide on this subject judging by other recent threads on the subject.
So, next time I'm in a pub, I'm not going to talk about religion, politics or antivirus on Linux.
Last edited by gittiest personITW on Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
gittiest personITW
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 4287
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 4:27 pm

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by gittiest personITW »

Hi,

What would you want I back up?

On this Linux Mint forum and on other Linux users forums, in thread related to viruses, some people write "no user reports malware or virus infection", with an implicit meaning "so the problem does not exist".

On other forum users, dedicated to MacOS or Windows, very few users report viruses infection, and some users arrive to the same opinion.

In both cases, it is my own conclusion as a forum reader, and I can't back-it up more precisely.

As a home user of Linux, Windows and MacOS the last time one of my computers has been infected by a virus was in 1995, this does not mean viruses do not exist...

Looking back at my professional experience, I remind several infections, including viruses migrating from unprotected development systems to software delivered to customer, and that's never good when customer is the 1st to detect it.

As a Linux Mint user, I know that, on February 2016, ISOs of Linux Mint 17.3 have been compromised with a backdoor and replaced. I also know that Linux Mint forum has been compromised and users personal data stolen (maybe it is the reason why Linux Mint websites are protected now by sucuri).

Regards,

MN
Hi Mike,
For some reason any comment seems to almost cause an argument which isn't intended, but I'll waste a little more time. Not much more though.

The ISO incident is not the same as a virus being delivered remotely.
The forum incident, which I've not heard of but even if it is true, again, is also not the same as a virus.
These are very different security incidents - both of which have nothing to do with the user's actions or, if the backdoor was done properly, would most likely not have been picked up by AV.
I never had a 'virus' on a Windows computer but did have Malware which regular scans picked up. Malware, however, is quite another touchy subject so that doesn't mean much, does it? It looks good if one scanning app picks up more signatures than another, so who really knows?
I've worked on computers that had virii etc etc, and at that time they were less complex. Nowadays, it might be better to do a re-install, or possibly there may be firmware vulnerabilities etc etc - so have to change your hardware.
Anyway, time is running on.
Keep well.

edit
Didn't answer your original question.
Backup your system - regularly. See my previous post or Lady Fitz etc etc.
However, think that your question, seeing your experience, is more hypothetical?
Last edited by gittiest personITW on Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Moem
Level 22
Level 22
Posts: 16193
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:14 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by Moem »

MikeNovember wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 4:32 am
Moem wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:53 am That's quite a statement! Would you care to back it up?
What would you want I back up?

On this Linux Mint forum and on other Linux users forums, in thread related to viruses, some people write "no user reports malware or virus infection", with an implicit meaning "so the problem does not exist".

On other forum users, dedicated to MacOS or Windows, very few users report viruses infection, and some users arrive to the same opinion.
An example of the latter would be nice. It seems unlikely to me that on Windows forums, the concensus would be that no infections of malware or viruses ever actually happen. Of course it's possible that some Windows users think they never happen... and for a moment it looked to me like you were stating that in fact, no infections of this kind ever get reported on Windows forums, but on second reading I don't think that is what you were saying.

I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that no malware infections have ever been reported on this forum. Malware is definitely a thing that can happen in a browser that is running on Linux. Viruses are another matter... can you, or anyone else, point to an actual report of a virus infection on this forum?
Image

If your issue is solved, kindly indicate that by editing the first post in the topic, and adding [SOLVED] to the title. Thanks!
dorsetUK
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 933
Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2019 4:40 am

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by dorsetUK »

As background on the 2016 'assaults'.

On Feb 21 2016 Clem posted this

As far as we know, the only compromised edition was Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon edition.
If you downloaded another release or another edition, this does not affect you. If you downloaded via torrents or via a direct HTTP link, this doesn’t affect you either.

Finally, the situation happened today, so it should only impact people who downloaded this edition on February 20th.
https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2994

On Feb 29 2016 Clem posted this

The Linux Mint forums software was compromised by an external attacker. As a result, the attacker has gained access to read your username, email address and an encrypted (hashed and salted) copy of your password from the forum database.
viewtopic.php?f=60&t=217506
gittiest personITW
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 4287
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 4:27 pm

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by gittiest personITW »

That must have been a very stressful week and a bit for Clem.
User avatar
Moem
Level 22
Level 22
Posts: 16193
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:14 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by Moem »

gittiest personITW wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:50 am That must have been a very stressful week and a bit for Clem.
It must have. But let's keep firmly in mind that in these incidents, not a single installation of Mint was infected in the way this thread is about.
Image

If your issue is solved, kindly indicate that by editing the first post in the topic, and adding [SOLVED] to the title. Thanks!
dorsetUK
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 933
Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2019 4:40 am

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by dorsetUK »

gittiest personITW wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 5:50 am That must have been a very stressful week and a bit for Clem.
:lol:

You may - or may not - be the 'gittiest', but you are certainly a master of the understatement.

A big Plus 1 to Moem.
1000
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 999
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2020 2:14 am

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by 1000 »

Conclusions
Linux is safer because ... But no system is 100% secure
It's not just about viruses, it's also about hardware failures.
You can only limit the risk if you can.

E.g
A backup of your important files can help you recover your data.
Sandboxing can help reduce file leakage
Lack of trust can help before installing anything you can.

And you have to keep common sense.
This is something that is hard to judge / define.
E.g.
Updates are important, but it's more important not to break own system or hardware.
Everyone has to assess the risk himself, because he will remove the effects.
Vilsen
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 982
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 4:45 am

Re: Ransomware, malware, virus , hacking.....

Post by Vilsen »

SO ??? WHAT WAS THE CONCLUSION ....
Locked

Return to “Beginner Questions”