It looks like Linux users aren’t safe from malware after all. While there had been attacks on Linux servers before, this may be the first time regular Linux users are affected. According to reports, a piece of malware called ‘Hand of thief’ “swipes” banking information and other login information from Linux users, “creates a backdoor” and blocks access to virtual machine or antivirus tools.

So far, we know that malware works on 15 different Linux distribution including Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu, and as well as on browsers like Chrome, Firefox and some Chromium browsers.

According to Engadget, Hand of Thief isn’t as dangerous as it can be because it uses social engineering to get users to install it on their Linux machines. Still, it isn’t something you should ignore if you are on Linux.

While Linux is typically safer than Windows (due to less malware targeting Linux), Linux users should be as careful as Windows users as there is no guarantee that something like this won’t happen again. No matter which platform we use, we should always take security risks seriously.

[via Engadget, ZDnet]