Wednesday, January 18, 2006

When is a Rootkit Not a Rootkit?

Ryan Naraine writes on eWeek:

A vendor-neutral push to find an unambiguous way to describe rootkits has received backing from anti-virus specialist Symantec Corp., but security experts are suspicious of the plan, warning that strict definitions only serve to legitimize the use of a dangerous piece of technology.

The issue has taken center stage after Symantec admitted to using a rootkit-type feature in Norton SystemWorks to help customers avoid the accidental deletion of files. Symantec acknowledged the feature provided a hiding place for malicious hackers and shipped an update to eliminate the risk, but because the word "rootkit" was used to describe what was intended as a useful feature, the company felt it was unfairly criticized by a confused public.

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