After setting up your kid's college PC, your home network, or your company's email server, it's customary to breathe a sigh of relief. 'Done!', you may think. However, we must be reminded that security is an ongoing process. This is your friendly reminder.

Linux has come a long way in recent years and because of that increasing exposure, we are in the spotlight of not only the public's eye but also the crosshairs of anonymous attackers scouring the internet. Take a little time out of the day to go over your logs, check your firewalls, and run a packet sniffer once in a while to get a feel of whats going in and out of your network. Once you're done with that, breathe a sigh of relief - and then do it all over again.

Symantec has recently issued a warning to businesses of the increasing use of botnets to not only send out spam or deliver remote attacks, but the trend of 'parasitic storage'. Simply put, attackers are now using your PCs and servers' precious hard drive space for personal storage of illegal or hijacked material.

"It's a subtle use of a botnet," said Guy Bunker, senior director of technical strategy at Symantec.