`history` command produces asterisk * entries

My modified search history lines have an asterisk next to them. I've searched unix.stackexchange.com and stackoverflow.com, but I yearn for a full explanation for the asterisks in my history (other than what the man page says). > Lines listed with a * have been modified. Example: $ history | tail 11850* 11851 ./block_ip.sh '23.228.114.203' 'evil probe' 11852 ./block_ip.sh DROP '23.228.114.203' 'evil probe $ _________________ In this example, a shell script had a third argument, but there was no error, and i ran it twice without specifying (DROP/ACCEPT). The modification was an attempt to blank out this history so that history-expansion would not lead me to the wrong command (again). I want to know more about this (*but I don't know what I don't know*). Please consider both angles of this: - how can i use this (*for instance can i get that original command if i need it*)? - how can a bad guy use this (*can someone hide their command history this way*)? ____________________________________ If a generic answer is too verbose, please note some of my settings: EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim HISTFILE=/home/jim/.bash_history SHELLOPTS=braceexpand:hashall:histexpand:history:interactive-comments:monitor:vi And this OS info (*It is RedHat...but Debian/Fedora/Ubuntu shouldn't vary much...should they?*): Linux qwerutyhgfjkd 3.10.0-693.11.1.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Mon Dec 4 23:52:40 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux I am using bash as my shell.