The code

The fork bomb code is (for example) like this one:

:(){:|:&};:

Explanation

First of all you define a function called “:”. The Syntax of the function is “:(){};”. Now in the function you will call the function itself recursively and send the output again to itself “:|:”. The “&” runs the function in the background. Now the fork bomb is done and you only need to call it with “:” at the end.

Live demonstration

For a live demonstration I have found a YouTube video:

How to prevent it

Preventing it is quite simple. You need to modify the system resources limits. Login to the server via SSH or open a new terminal window and edit the limits.conf file as root:

sudo vi /etc/security/limits.conf

Set a limit for the processes number for a specific user or a group:

username hard nproc 100

@groupname hard nproc 100