Botnets, free tool and 6 years of Linux/Rst-B

The researchers at IT security firm Sophos are finding that 70% of malware downloaded to its honeypots by hackers is infected by 6 year old Linux virus Rst-B. The kind of malware and break-in patterns suggest that the hackers aim on hijacking Linux servers as botnet controlers.

In order to determine prevalence of the virus the company has made available a free tool detecting this particular virus. All Linux users that do not run an anti-virus software on regular basis are asked to help in research by downloading the tool and reporting results.