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Comment by TheAsprngHacker | Hacker News Reader

According to the article, "The researchers estimate half a million Windows machines received the malicious backdoor through the ASUS update server." I use an Asus computer, but I use GNU/Linux and almost never boot into Windows. Am I affected by the malware? How can I check?

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> I use an Asus computer, but I use GNU/Linux and almost never boot into Windows.

It probably depends on whether your computer came with windows pre-installed (not good), or you've ever installed the ASUS provided "ASUS Update" utility software for Windows.

It's a specific download, that you'd need to manually install.

AFAIK, most (tech) people consider it bloatware, so don't.

If your computer came with windows pre-installed though... uh oh.

this is for people who install the "asus update" software, which is either found on install media cd or can be downloaded from the asus website.

to check/fix: unplug your internet, boot to windows, uninstall "Asus Update".

If you encrypt your Linux partition you are almost sure to be safe. I say almost, because there could be an attack vector where the BIOS is changed, but that's very unlikely.

If you don't encrypt your Linux disk (which you should), you're still very likely safe. It's possible but unlikely that the backdoor would check for a Linux partition and then install an extra backdoor on the Linux side.

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