The revelation 5 years ago that Sony BMG was planting a secret rootkit onto its music customers’ Windows PCs in the name of anti-piracy is seen now as one of the all-time significant events in IT ...

The software developer behind a leading rootkit program says he is motivated by necessity, curiosity and a desire to expose weaknesses in the Windows operating system and security technology. He also ...

Security researchers have developed a new type of malicious rootkit software that hides itself in an obscure part of a computer’s microprocessor, hidden from current antivirus products. Called a ...

Nearly four months after hiring Sony rootkit whistleblower Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Corp. has moved his company’s software to its Web site and has released a new Windows system tool that can help ...

In the past year, the Federal Trade Commission reached settlements with spammers, adware distributors and Sony BMG Music Entertainment over its distribution of rootkit software. In the past year, the ...

Most electronics consumers had never heard of rootkits before last year’s Sony BMG debacle. Now, rootkits have the attention of the U.S. public — and the U.S. government. The Department of Homeland ...

When combined with Web threats, the new rootkit is proving to be both a destructive and prolific combination, security experts say. The rootkit models a similar virus from several years ago but with ...

Mark Russinovich was doing a routine test this week of computer security software he'd co-written, when he made a surprising discovery: Something new was hiding itself deep inside his PC's guts. It ...

A security researcher has developed malicious rootkit software for Cisco Systems' routers, a development that has placed increasing scrutiny on the routers that carry the majority of the Internet's ...

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Perhaps the best way to deal with rootkits is to outlaw them. At least when it comes to such mishaps as the Sony BMG Music Entertainment fiasco, that's what an official from the ...

A rootkit is a kind of software that conceals malware from standard detection methods. A good analogy for a rootkit would be a burglar breaking into your house. The burglar is dressed all in black, so ...