RE: strings in backdoor binaries

[ken () wellconnected com (Kenneth Simpson)]

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Hi - actually, tripewire *IS* commerical software - see 

        http://www.tripewire.com
        
You might want to ask them your question (it's not clear I 
understand your question.)
        
And spending money may give you a warm fuzzy feeling but it's 
security based on obscurity. 

Second, we've been hacked twice and both times the sniffer and 
the backdoor daemon were placed in the directory 

        ... 
        
in /var/spool/lp - directories typically not checked by tripewire
or aide because of the noise it would generate.

Detecting trojan horses is only a small part of any security policy - 
and just about any *simple* minded scheme will work for gathering 
digital signatures on critical system binaries provided it's implemented
in a secure manner. 

-- Ken

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Kenneth Simpson                          Well Connected Computing, Inc.
Email: ken () wellconnected com             1001 Bridgeway
URL:   http://wellconnected.com/         Suite 630
Voice: +1.415.332.5018                   Sausalito, CA 94965
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