> > Complete wiping of the system is not always necessary

On Tue, Jul 02, 2002 at 10:23:38AM -0700, Gordon Messmer wrote:
> That's not advice I'd give to someone who doesn't recognize that he's
> been hacked.  Actually making sure that a system is clean is possible,
> but it involves /really/ knowing what's going on in the system.   

It is also good to pretend you are tracking down a mystery disease and
don't know how it is spread.  This means taking every logical
precaution.  (But be logical, don't resort to shaking dead chickens at
the hard disk.)

And be paranoid.  For example, if you have been cracked into, assume
that everything you have typed on that computer has also been sent
back to the bad guy who broke in.  So if you have ever logged into
another computer from that box, assume that the cracked computer kept
a note of that other computer's password and sent it back to its
master.  Which means that other computer might have been broken into
too.  Now, once you rebuild your cracked box, if you log into it from
another cracked box, *that* password can be sent off to some bad guy.

And worry about all executable files (or source code files you might
compile).  Any program that is on the cracked box might have been
tampered with.  If you back up any programs and then restore them on a
rebuilt box you might just be reinstalling a rootkit.

Once you get your box back and happy, keep it up to date so it won't
get broken into again.  


-kb



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