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RSS FeedFears over new rootkit
Researchers have developed a new kind of malicious rootkit software that is hidden from current anti-virus software, it has been revealed.
The System Management Mode (SMM) rootkit, as it is called, runs in a part of the computer's memory where it cannot be detected and provides attackers with a picture of what is happening in the machine's memory, giving rise to a range of security and privacy concerns.
Built by Shawn Embleton and Sherri Sparks, who run Clear Hat Consulting, the SMM rootkit can be used to steal sensitive information, IDG News Service reports.
"Rootkits are going more and more toward the hardware. The deeper into the system you go, the more power you have and the harder it is to detect you," stated Ms Sparks.
However, because the hackers have to write the driver code especially for the system they are attempting to get into, the rootkit would probably only be used in targeted attacks, she added.
Meanwhile, internet users were exposed to another online security threat recently when malware writers began circulating a movie file that appeared to be a cartoon sending up Chinese Olympic gymnasts which was infected with malicious code.
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