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Rootkits all over again
The ink on Sony BMG's settlement with the Electronic Frontier Foundation is hardly dry, and already we're hit with a second rootkit soap.
This time Symantec thought it would be useful to hide file from the system and anti-virus software in Norton SystemWorks. The feature rootkit allowed the software to recover 'lost' files by preventing the user from deleting them.
The thing is that rootkits could also be used by worms and other kinds of malware to hide from virus scanners.
While hiding files isn't all a rootkit does (it's primarily designed to build a backdoor into system for hacking purposes), rootkits have become best known for their cloaking capabilities after last year's Sony BMG goof-up.
There is lot to be said against comparing Symantec with Sony BMG. The record label trivialized the threat at first, where it was well documented in Symantec's case. The firm also was quick to publish an update, contrary to Sony BMG.
But Sony BMG at least could plead ignorance: 'We're just a record label. We weren't really knowing what we are doing.'
I'd expected better from one of the world's largest security vendors.
Tags: rootkit, sony bmg, symantec, f-secure, mark russinovich
January 13, 2006 at 12:21 AM | Permalink
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