Threads about pc taken over

Is it just my idea, or it's a fact that threads about a pc been compromised are popping up quite frequently?

I am a linux user since 2006, I have internet connection since 2008. I have a dc server which runs 24/7 also connected to the internet. I have never used any special firewall or something; just "ALL: ALL" on hosts.deny and my trusted IPs on hosts.allow. I get about a dozen of shh attempts on each PC (sometimes I retaliate, too :P). In 4 years of internet experience, my systems have never been compromised in any way (of course I have disabled root ssh login and I use strong passwords). I don't remember reading a post about a system been taken over before here on LQ (citation needed )

So my question is, have the attacks been more frequent, indeed? Are these false alarms? Has the Linux been "more" targeted by crackers.

I have been using linux since around 96 and i have seen some interesting things, compromised machines where system utilities like ps and netstat have been replaced with shell scripts that grep -v cracker processes for instance, but i have never seen anything like some of the stuff people have posted recently. OTOH im not totally discounting it, attackers have become more sophisticated no doubt, but i would have to actually see some of the stuff i have heard about recently to credit it.

One of the recent posts was about a machine (iirc) that had an infected mbr, where the virus or whatever, even survived re-install of a boot loader. I wouldnt have imagined that was possible.

It never happens to you ... until it happens to you

I think it's like anything else in the emdia (traditional or otherwise) that while itm may be a bit more prevalent, you also hear more about it when it does occur.

It is actually a bit difficult to tell, because a lot of the more dramatic threads should be filed under 'inexperienced and paranoid*' rather than real exploits, and quite a few are 'what should I do to prevent this particular issue..', neither of which should really be counted as actual exploits.

(* ...better than 'inexperienced and couldn't give a stuff )

There is an entire criminal world out there working day and night to steal. I'd guess they found that limiting their efforts to only Windows machine limited criminal profits. They decided to branch out.

I am not usually paranoid, I just don't trust anyone.

I wonder if those who said their linux machine were compromised were doing everything as root. No matter the OS platform, one should never do everything as root/admin except for administrating purposes.