Tuesday, April 10th 2007
GRISOFT Launches Free AVG Anti-Rootkit
Popular free antivirus provider GRISOFT has today launched the first non-beta version of its AVG Anti-Rootkit software, which is free to all home users. Unfortunately GRISOFT does not offer support for this new product so you'll have to rely on their forums if you run into any problems, but you should certainly consider adding this software to your PC security arsenal. Rootkits are among the newest and most difficult to detect forms of malware being circulated at present, and most standard virus scanners will have either no rootkit detecting abilities or be very limited in their effectiveness, so at present the best way to combat them is by using these standalone rootkit-detectors. Other free anti-rootkit software to look at includes RootkitRevealer, Rootkit Unhooker, Rootkit Buster, IceSword and Sophos Anti-Rootkit, although some are difficult to use and may not remove the rootkits for you - as rootkits are still relatively new and different software will be better at detecting different exploits, it is a good idea to use multiple scanners to complement each other. AVG Anti-Rootkit will work on the 32-bit versions of both Windows 2000 and Windows XP, although Windows Vista support is not mentioned.
Source:
GRISOFT
6 Comments on GRISOFT Launches Free AVG Anti-Rootkit
can someone explain in a few words what these "rootkits" do?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A rootkit is a set of software tools intended to conceal running processes, files or system data from the operating system. Rootkits have their origin in relatively benign applications, but in recent years have been used increasingly by malware to help intruders maintain access to systems while avoiding detection. Rootkits exist for a variety of operating systems, such as Linux, Solaris and versions of Microsoft Windows. Rootkits often modify parts of the operating system or install themselves as drivers or kernel modules.
The word "rootkit" came to general public awareness in the 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal, in which Sony BMG music CDs surreptitiously placed a rootkit on Microsoft Windows PCs when the CD was played on the computer. Sony provided no mention of this on the CD or its packaging, referring only to security rights management measures."
"A rootkit can take full control of a system. A rootkit's only purpose is to hide files, network connections, memory addresses, or registry entries from other programs used by system administrators to detect intended/ unintended special privilege accesses to the computer resources. However, a rootkit may be incorporated with other files which have other purposes. It is important to note that the utilities bundled with the rootkit may be malicious in intent, but a rootkit is essentially a technology; it may be used for both productive and destructive purposes.
A rootkit is often used to hide utilities. These are often used to abuse a compromised system, include so-called "backdoors" to help the attacker subsequently access the system more easily. For example, the rootkit may hide an application that spawns a shell when the attacker connects to a particular network port on the system. Kernel rootkits may include similar functionality. A backdoor may also allow processes started by a non-privileged user to execute functions normally reserved for the superuser."
They've lost me as a Playstation fan, but I am buying a new Hi-Fi from them so I haven't learned yet... I'm sure it will explode and teach me a lesson!