The Advance of Linux-based Botnet Malware - Can It Be Stopped?

The BillGates Trojan botnet family of malware - apparently so named by the virus writers because it targets machines running Linux, not Windows - has been labelled with a "high" risk factor in a threat advisory issued by Akamai's Security Intelligence Research Team. Akamai said the biggest attack to date using such a botnet occurred towards the end of 2015. Linux-operated botnet Distributed Denial of Service attacks surged in this year's second quarter, due to growing interest in targeting Chinese servers, according to a Kaspersky Lab report released this week. South Korea kept its top ranking for having the most command-and-control servers. Brazil, Italy and Israel ranked among the leaders behind South Korea for hosting C&C servers, according to Kaspersky Lab. DDoS attacks affected resources in 70 countries, with targets in China absorbing 77 percent of all attacks. Germany and Canada dropped out of the top 10 most-targeted countries, replaced by France and the Netherlands. The Linux server is the go-to platform for orchestrating DDoS attacks because of its latent vulnerabilities, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.  A common problem is that they are not protected by reliable security solutions. "That makes them prime targets for hackers, especially those that leverage C&C servers to centrally manage and carry out DDoS attacks," he told LinuxInsider. "Deploying leading security solutions, as well as utilizing and updating established Linux distros, can go a long way to protecting against these issues."What impact will the rise in Linux botnets have on Internet security worldwide? Share your comments with the Cloud and Cyber Security Center.