Ten days ago Google discovered that apparently innocuous Android apps were in fact infested with "DroidDream" malware that included an Android rootkit, with the apparent intent of creating a smartphone botnet.
Paradoxically, security researchers say, it instead creates a gaping security vulnerability; the rootkit creates an invisible folder that allows cybercriminals to install their own malicious software where it can operate undetected, potentially stealing passwords or sending spam e-mail.
ROOTKIT REDUX Sony has apparently done it again.
The other piece of crimeware to be aware of is a rootkit called ZeroAccess.
rootkit n. a surreptitious high-level software program that gives total control over a computer system.
Virus writers used the Sony rootkit to cloak their own software and attack vulnerable systems.
That's why I've included a next-generation scanning engine to guard against the latest viruses, Trojans, spyware, rootkits, and other threats, all without seriously compromising battery life, slowing down your PC, or explaining what a rootkit is.
The software's core, known as a rootkit, is small and can be installed via a memory stick or email.
Rootkits are hard to detect because they can intercept the operating system's internal functions and exchange that data with false information — like purposely preventing the rootkit's own files from being listed by Windows Explorer or the Windows XP Task Manager.
Typically, a personal computer (PC) becomes infected with a rootkit when the owner installs some software obtained over the Internet, especially copyrighted software that has been distributed illegally.
