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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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How do we know if there aren't a bunch of more undetected backdoors? (self.linux)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by mfat to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I have been thinking about self-hosting my personal photos on my linux server. After the recent backdoor was detected I'm more hesitant to do so especially because i'm no security expert and don't have the time and knowledge to audit my server. All I've done so far is disabling password logins and changing the ssh port. I'm wondering if there are more backdoors and if new ones are made I can't respond in time. Appreciate your thoughts on this for an ordinary user.

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[–] bigmclargehuge@lemmy.world 19 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Just a point to add: this backdoor was (likely) planned years in advance; it took ONE guy a couple weeks (after the malicious code was released) to find it because he had nothing else going on that evening.

I'm relatively confident that the FOSS community has enough of that type of person that if there are more incidents like this one, there's a decent chance it'll be found quickly, especially now that this has happened and gotten so much attention.

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 2 points 7 months ago

Even better: there are also backdoors in closed-source software that will never be found. There may be fewer backdoors inserted, but the ones that get in there are far more likely to stay undiscovered.