Finding how a hacked server was hacked

Posted by sixtyfootersdude on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by sixtyfootersdude
Published on 2011-01-03T12:04:53Z Indexed on 2011/01/03 12:55 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 292

Filed under:

security

|

intrusion-cleanup

|

system-compromise

I was just browsing through the site and found this question: My server's been hacked EMERGENCY. Basically the question says: My server has been hacked. What should I do?

The best answer is excellent but it raised some questions in my mind. One of the steps suggested is to:

Examine the 'attacked' systems to understand how the attacks succeeded in compromising your security. Make every effort to find out where the attacks "came from", so that you understand what problems you have and need to address to make your system safe in the future.

I have done no system admin work so I have no idea how I would start doing this. What would be the first step? I know that you could look in the server log files but as an attacker the first thing that I would do would be errasing the log files. How would you "understand" how the attacks succeeded?

© Server Fault or respective owner

Related posts about security

sudo apt-get update errors

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Here is what I get on my terminal when running sudo apt-get update errors. I dont know if the issue is from my sources.list or my proxy setup(have not made any changes to proxies). Thank you for any help in advanced. Ign http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security Release.gpg Ign http://security… >>> More
The Security-Developer Gap: Why IT Security Can't Fix Your Security Problems Alone

as seen on Devx - Search for 'Devx'
Two well-known white hats explain how hackers take advantage of security holes left by enterprise application developers. >>> More
The Security-Developer Gap: Why IT Security Can't Fix Your Security Problems Alone

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Two well-known white hats explain how hackers take advantage of security holes left by enterprise application developers. >>> More
StackOverFlowError while creating Mac object on AS400/Java

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello all, I am a newbie to AS400-Java programming. I am trying to create my first program to test the implementation of Message Authentication Code (MAC). I am trying to use the HMACSHA1 hash function. My (Java 1.4) program runs fine on a dev box (V5R4).But fails terribly on the QA box (V5R3). My… >>> More
Google App Engine - Spring Security Issue (java.security.AccessControlException)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm currently getting the AccessControlException below when I deploy to app engine (I don't see it when I run in my local environment). I'm using GAE 1.3.1, Spring 3.0.1, and Spring Security 3.0.2. Any ideas how to get around this issue? It appears to be an issue with Spring Security trying to get… >>> More

Related posts about intrusion-cleanup

Reinstall after a Root Compromise?

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
After reading this question on a server compromise, I started to wonder why people continue to seem to believe that they can recover a compromised system using detection/cleanup tools, or by just fixing the hole that was used to compromise the system. Given all the various root kit technologies and… >>> More
Finding how a hacked server was hacked

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I was just browsing through the site and found this question: My server's been hacked EMERGENCY. Basically the question says: My server has been hacked. What should I do? The best answer is excellent but it raised some questions in my mind. One of the steps suggested is to: Examine the… >>> More
My server's been hacked EMERGENCY

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I'm on my way into work at 9.30 p.m. on a Sunday because our server has been compromised somehow and was resulting in a DOS attack on our provider. The servers access to the Internet has been shut down which means over 5-600 of our clients sites are now down. Now this could be an FTP hack, or some… >>> More