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If I do a fresh installation of ubuntu from an uninfected cd, will it remove all the existing rootkits/malwares/spywares/viruses etc if any ? Is formatting the hard disk required before reinstalling or these malicious programs will be removed even if the disk is not formatted before reinstalling?

aks
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You are required to format the disk completely. There are rumours and even proof of concepts of rootkits hiding in the BIOS, but I haven't seen them in the wild yet. 

HamZa
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Lucas Kauffman
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  • Just out of curiosity, are there any BIOS rootkits for Linux? – TheRookierLearner Mar 10 '14 at 03:34
  • @TheRookierLearner - Just a question that do BIOS rootkits depend on the Operating System which is running as well? – Pranav Jituri Mar 10 '14 at 07:39
  • Slides presented at the Black Hat 2006 describing a BIOS Rootkit can be found [here](http://blackhat.com/presentations/bh-federal-06/BH-Fed-06-Heasman.pdf). The authors developed a proof of concept BIOS rootkit that acts as a Windows NT or as a Linux backdoor. – DanielE Mar 10 '14 at 07:46
  • Switching *power off* before booting from CD is not very time expensive! (And could maybe prevent *warm-boot* issues) – F. Hauri - Give Up GitHub Mar 10 '14 at 17:05
  • so u r saying formatting the hdd and reinstallling ubuntu will get rid of malicious programs ? – aks Mar 10 '14 at 20:13