Thank you for reading the LinuxSecurity.com weekly security newsletter. The purpose of this document is to provide our readers with a quick summary of each week's most relevant Linux security headlines.

LinuxSecurity.com Feature Extras:

Free Online security course (LearnSIA) - A Call for Help - The Survivability and Information Assurance (SIA) course was originally developed by a team at Carnegie Mellon, led by Lawrence Rogers (/about/divisions/cert/index.cfm). Back in 2010, I requested a license to continue the development of the course because it provides useful information on Information Assurance. Also, this course will always be freely available for anyone to use in the classroom or self-study. There are three parts to the LearnSIA curriculum.

What You Need to Know About Linux Rootkits - Rootkits are a way attackers hide their tracks and keep access to the machines they control. The good rootkits are very hard to detect and remove. They can be running on ones computer and no one can even know they have been running. Read more to learn how to detect them on your system.

(Oct 11)

Alan Wlasuk, CEO of 403 Web Security, has compiled a list of the top six dumbest hacks of all time. While hackers can be dangerous, Alan shows that not every hacker is a brilliant mastermind. Think of the always amusing Darwin Awards pictured in our icon at left. With many of these exploits, the hacker left unintended clues in their code to make them easier to be found.
The Best System Monitor for Linux (Oct 11)

Linux has a few different options for monitoring your system's resources, but our favorite is definitely the lightweight, super-configurable Conky, which sits right on your desktop.
(Oct 14)

He was once one of the world's top hackers, but now Pablos Holman is using his powers for good. He was in town for Chicago Ideas Week and joined us with some tips for protecting yourself online.
Internet Explorer is the safest Web browser!? Ha! (Oct 13)

Microsoft is trying again to con people into thinking that Internet Explorer is the safest browser around. It's not. At best, it's tied with Chrome.
Open Source: Why Military Forces Should Use Linux (Oct 11)

Why? Because the level of skill required to crack a Unix-like OS is much higher than that needed for a Microsoft OS. Further, properly configured Unix-like systems are much more robust than Microsoft systems. Were Military forces using properly configured and properly secured Unix or Linux systems we would not see items like these below being reported.
(Oct 12)

The LulzSec and Anonymous hacktivist groups have unreleased data stolen from HSBC, Koch Brothers, as well as other banks and newspapers, secreted on a server in China. But it doesn't plan on releasing most of it--at least not right away.
The SSL certificate industry can and should be replaced (Oct 13)

The SSL certificate authorities like Comodo that have had their security undermined by hackers shouldn't be trusted, and in fact, the way the entire SSL certificate industry of today works can and should be replaced with something better, says Moxie Marlinspike, a security expert who's come up with a plan he says will do that.
IPFire open source firewall gets ARM port (Oct 11)

The IPFire project development team has announced the first beta release of an ARM port of version 2.11 of its open source firewall. IPFire is a Linux server distribution that can be booted from a CD or USB drive, or installed to a computer's internal drive.
(Oct 12)

Under a proposed new law, the Obama Administration is planning to throw the book at hackers convicted of organized criminal activity or endangering national security.
Experts explain greatest threats to cloud security (Oct 10)

Cloud security threats come in all shapes and sizes, so we asked eight experts to weigh in on what they see as the top threat to cloud security. The answers run the gamut, but in all cases, our cloud security panelists believe that these threats can be addressed.
Lulzsec hacker: 'we still have Sun emails, stored in China' (Oct 10)

Sabu, the erstwhile leader of the hacking crew, says he is effectively on the run as he gives interview to Reddit readers about LulzSec's achievements, Facebook, sentencing and more.
German Government's Skype Spying Tool Has Holes, Hackers Say (Oct 10)

An eavesdropping tool allegedly used by the German government to intercept Skype calls is full of security problems and may violate a ruling by the country's constitutional court, according to a European hacker club.