Software Update: F-Secure Linux Rescue CD 3.11

A new version of the F-secure Linux Rescue CD was released last week on the F-Secure Mac and Linux Blog. This Knoppix-based live CD is intended to scan a computer for viruses. Offline scanning is better because if an infected system boots up, in most cases the virus will spread further. In addition, in that case, certain system files are in use and cannot be repaired. In version 3.11, several improvements have been made for when starting from a USB stick and two new tools have been added, which can be used to recover data and partitions. Below is the full changelog for this release:

New Features

• New F-Secure Security Platform version
• New Knoppix
• USB stick improvements
  • Ability to speed up the process by storing malware definitions on a USB stick if scan is done often
  • Ability to automate scanning or enable malware definition download behind a proxy
  • Ability to run personalized automated script for the system as part of the process
  • Ability to convert RescueCD into bootable USB stick
• Two new useful utilities have been added:
  • PhotoRec is a tool that can be used to recover data that has been accidentally deleted or lost due to a corrupted file system on a disk.
  • TestDisk is another data recovery tool that can, for example, be used to recover a lost partition.

Note that F-Secure does not provide any kind of support on using these tools. Best resource for help on using them can probably be found from their Wiki pages.