Businesses face a growing threat from malicious code
which uses sophisticated technology, known as rootkits, to evade
anti-virus software, security analysts claimed last
week.
Peter Wood, security consultant at First Base Technologies,
predicted that organised criminals would increasingly turn to the
technology as businesses improved their defences against
hackers.
The most effective rootkits can be disguised as drivers for
printers or other devices, said Wood. Once downloaded, they can
fool anti-virus and anti-spyware software into believing no
malicious code is present on the machine, he warned.
Researchers have demonstrated how hackers can implant rootkits
into the Bios memory of a PC, allowing the machine to be
continually reinfected, even if the disc has been disinfected of
all malicious code.
