[TriLUG] Server Oddness

[Aaron S. Joyner]

Nathan Conrad wrote:

><beginning snipped>
>From my experience, hangs like this are usually due to bad hardware. I
>don't know why anyone putting a rootkit on your computer would want to
>crash it, unless it was written for a different kernel and caused your
>kernel to crash?
>
>-Nathan
>  
>
Generally, people who are trying to rootkit your computer aren't smart 
enough to check the kernel version ahead of time.  :)  There are of 
course exceptions to the rule, but generally it's just script kiddies 
playing around, and they often can cause wierd problems, disruptions of 
service, complete crashes, etc.  On the other hand, unless you've been 
neglecting security updates on the box, that really isn't the most 
likely scenario.  It's far more likely to see problems with aging 
hardware, etc.  Is this by chance a dual-processor P2-era Celeron 
machine?  If it's Pentium1-3 era, does it have bad capacitors on the 
motherboard?  (look for round cylinders that appear to be leaking fluid 
or bubbled up on top, at the top-left side of the motherboard, near the 
CPU and PS/2 prots)  Any of these types of hardware problems (or dozens 
of others) are (I'd guess) much more likely than crackers banging on 
your door.  :)

Aaron S. Joyner