Rootkits and idiotic comments

Going through an F-secure web blog post, i found this of interest to talk about.

It has been 5 years since the security industry was first introduced to rootkits which was discovered by the folks at F-secure. Many people who read tech articles may remember that it was Sony who first introduced rootkits as a method to prevent people from copying the contents. In simple terms, they wanted to weed out piracy but gave the world a new malware form which is widely used today.

Rootkits are designed to hide the programs from being viewable by the user. Its intelligent method even evaded most antivirus scanners back then as the files were not visible to the antivirus program.

When the case was made public in 2005, Sony's management team was quoted the following "Most people don't even know what a rootkit is. why should they care about it."

Of course, the whole saga went off on a bad footing and The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) criticized Sony BMG for releasing products that undermined antivirus software and exposed both government-owned and privately owned computers to hackers. Stewart Baker, DHS assistant secretary for policy, chastised media companies for its zealousness in protecting their intellectual property. "It's very important to remember that it's your intellectual property, [but] it's not your computer," Baker said.

I can't find any point to disagree with Mr. Baker on this matter. And as we now know, rootkits are used by malware to hide their operating files so that stealth and secrecy can be maintained. Such technology serves as a double edge knife and will cut both ways. The good intentions and the evil ones. The computer security industry do not like such ideas either and thus it is reflected upon their ethics .This also reflect why they don't simply give out malware samples to anyone(creditable or not) who wants it. It is simply a double edge knife....

Just so you know, both ESET NOD32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security provides protection against rootkits.

 

You can read more about the whole issue via boycott-riaa.com here 

F-Secure's blogpost on this can be found here

This blog is maintained by Basic Gateway as the distributor of ESET products in Malaysia since 2005.