When you think about computer security, or the lack of it, Windows immediately springs to mind and Linux users gloat, saying that their operating system is inherently more secure. While that may be true when Linux is up and running, there is a flaw and that is the ISO image.
Linux users download ISO images of the operating system from the web to install on their computers and it is possible to hack the ISO image so that it contains malware, spyware, security flaws and back doors and so on.
This is what happened to Linux Mint. The website is down right now, and has been for sever hours, but a blog post explains what happened.
linuxmint.com
The
Linux Mint blog revealed that hackers got into the Linux Mint website and changed the links to point to a modified the Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon edition ISO image. It contains a backdoor that, presumably, allows an attacker to get into the system and take it over.
If you downloaded Linux Mint on the 20th February, or a few days before or after, it would be best to delete the ISO. If you installed it, erase the disk, get a fresh copy and reinstall it.
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