How to tell if I've been hacked?

[Andrew Farris]

On Tue, 2009-08-18 at 21:54 -0400, Scott Ehrlich wrote:
> There is a lot of talk about the vulnerable Linux kernel.   I'm simply
> wondering the telltale signs if a given system has been hacked?
> What, specifically, does a person look for?

Who's been talking about the linux kernel being vulnerable? Thats not
more MS FUD is it?

Missing files, hidden processes, and new user accounts that you didn't
create would be a few things to look for. Also, you can search in
synaptic for a program called 'zenmap' which will let you can your
computer for open ports/potential vulnerabilities, etc...

A great way to avoid all this trouble is to only install packages from
the offical repos. this eliminates the possibility that someone could
install a backdoor into your system, with which they could 'hack' your
pc.

By default though, Ubuntu comes locked down. It would be difficult to
hack a default ubuntu install w/o physical access to the hardware, and
if you take decent security measures (i.e. reasonably strong password,
no auto-login, no login-face-browser, etc...) it makes it even harder
for people to hack your PC.

What I'm really interested in, though, is who was talking about the
Linux kernel being insecure :)

-- 
Andrew
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