Security News > 2022 > May > Microsoft sounds the alarm on — wait for it — a Linux botnet

Microsoft has sounded the alarm on DDoS malware called XorDdos that targets Linux endpoints and servers.

Over the last six months, Microsoft threat researchers say they've witnessed a 254 percent spike in the malware's activity.

"XorDdos depicts the trend of malware increasingly targeting Linux-based operating systems, which are commonly deployed on cloud infrastructures and Internet of Things devices," Redmond warned.

"DDoS attacks in and of themselves can be highly problematic for numerous reasons, but such attacks can also be used as cover to hide further malicious activities, like deploying malware and infiltrating target systems," the Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team wrote.

In the new blog about XorDdos, Microsoft noted that the malware uses secure shell brute force attacks to gain control on target devices.

The stealthy malware uses several persistence mechanisms to support different Linux distributions, so it's good at infecting a range of different systems.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/05/23/microsoft_linux_botnet/