Hello all, Ive gotten a lot of emails at my site the last few days about Rooties. So i thought I'd dig out this excellent info article about em. The Root of the Problem Rootkits are hardly new. They've been around in the Unix world for a long time, typically replacing a standard Unix system file, such as the ps command that displays a list of currently running processes. A rootkit replacement for this command would produce the expected list of processes, while working its destructive magic behind the scenes. Rootkits designed for Windows typically take a different approach. Instead of replacing system files, they often register with the operating system to intercept program requests made to standard Windows APIs. For example, when Windows Explorer needs to read the contents of a directory, it issues a standard call for a list of files in that directory. If a rootkit has registered with the operating system to handle this type of call, it can pass the request on to the real Windows function library that handles file listings. Once it receives a response, it would then filter out references to any file names that might reveal the existence of a rootkit and pass those filtered results on to Explorer. The rootkit stays hidden, no matter how hard you look. If a rootkit uses similar techniques to remove itself from the list of processes running in Windows or to shield itself within the hidden system files holding the structure of an NTFS-formatted volume, all your tools for finding malicious software may prove useless for detecting rootkits. Other programs that depend on system calls, including virus scanners, will also fail. Some rootkits use even more sophisticated methods. For example, the Hacker Defender rootkit adds its own code to every process currently running on a computer.

Then what do you do to find it besides walking off 10 paces and turning and shooting the computer. Bo

Hiya Bo, Best thing to do is use the RootKit Revealer Program. http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.html Its free ! Take care,

Personally I still consider myself fairly new to all of this computer stuff and I don't care what kind of kits there are out there or programs that are supposed to help because I still get frustrated to no end. But I do get a kick out of a funny story when they pass or the funny comments made due to stories passed. Stephania

Hiya Stephania, Yu'll love this then, The Twelve Days of Spyware On the first day of Spyware, A Sender Forger sent to me A SoBig Virus in a Email. On the second day of Spyware, a Phisher sent to me A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the third day of Spyware, Webforce sent to me A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the fourth day of Spyware, A Homepage Hijacker sent to me A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the fifth day of Spyware, Advertising Software sent to me A hundred annoying Popups, A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the sixth day of Spyware, A Hacker sent to me A Keylogger that stole my Identity, A hundred annoying Popups, A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the seventh day of Spyware, A Dialer stealer sent to me A huge Phone bill, A Keylogger that stole my Identity, A hundred annoying Popups, A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the eighth day of Spyware, A free download sent to me A lil program that stole my chatroom logs, A huge Phone bill, A Keylogger that stole my Identity, A hundred annoying Popups, A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the ninth day of Spyware, A Drive By Download sent to me Xupiter,oh joy, A lil program that stole my chatroom logs, A huge Phone bill, A Keylogger that stole my Identity, A hundred annoying Popups, A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the tenth day of Spyware, Grokster sent to me Gator,oh NO, Xupiter,oh joy, A lil program that stole my chatroom logs, A huge Phone bill, A Keylogger that stole my Identity, A hundred annoying Popups, A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the eleventh day of Spyware, DoubleClick sent to me Lots of Ad Cookies, Gator,oh NO, Xupiter,oh joy, A lil program that stole my chatroom logs, A huge Phone bill, A Keylogger that stole my Identity, A hundred annoying Popups, A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email. On the twelfth day of Spyware, Malware sent to me A unbootable computer, Lots of Ad Cookies, Gator,oh NO, Xupiter,oh joy, A lil program that stole my chatroom logs, A huge Phone bill, A Keylogger that stole my Identity, A hundred annoying Popups, A Homepage of Sleeze, A unauthorized Bank Charge, A Nigerian Email Scam, And a SoBig Virus in a Email! Stay Safe Online and Happy Holidays to you and yours.