The term rootkit is used to describe the mechanisms and techniques where malicious programs, including viruses, spyware and trojans, try to hide from antivirus and antispyware programs. There are various categories of rootkits depending on whether the malicious program continues to exist after restarting the computer and whether the rootkit program operates at the user or kernel level.
Permanent Rootkits
A permanent rootkit is associated with a malicious program that is activated every time the computer starts. Since such a code must be activated automatically whenever the computer starts or when the user logs on, the code must be stored in a permanent location on the computer, such as the Registry Start-up or the file system, and find a way to activate itself without user intervention. [Read more…]