There is an increasing amount of news on rootkits, such as whether a company uses them in 
commercial software or if they can be bought to carry out direct attacks on someone. They are undoubtedly the latest craze.
The problem with rootkits is their detection and elimination. Various companies have announced the existence of certain technologies that enable the detection of rootkits in operation, in other words being hidden. The fact that they are concealed makes them dangerous: antivirus detection systems are not capable of finding the files that form part of the rootkit, which means they cannot detect them.
It is a long-standing problem resulting from a relaxation in programming systems. When viruses first arose, the “stealth” technique, which used different viruses to hide itself, was talked about. At that time the most rudimentary virus detection systems searched for file modifications. Consequently, if a file infected by a virus increased the size of the file, for example by 1000 bytes, a program that monitored file changes (or significant changes in the system, such as COMMAND.COM) could quickly warn of the danger. BIOS: The Quality Tech Guide
From around the Web
- Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Latest Release Schedule
- Vista SP2: What is inside?
- NetWitness releases free version of security software
- Three Reasons Why Users Won’t Buy Into Security
- Automated security testing & its limitations
- Google Wants to Preinstall Chrome Browser on PCs
- Mozilla warns of Firefox China add on
- Firefox No Longer an Automatic Defense Against Browser Drive Bys
- Google patches Chrome file stealing bug
- Apple plays catch up, adds anti fraud safeguard to Safari
- Researchers find vulnerability in Windows Vista
- How to Use Network Behavior Analysis Tools
- The insider security threat in IT and financial services
- Windows 7 security: An overall improvement?
- Windows 7 UAC could be less of a nag