Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A set of software tools used to gain unauthorized access to a computer system on a network and to control its operation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun computing A set of software tools used by a third party after gaining access to a computer system in order to conceal the altering of files, or processes being executed by the third party without the user's knowledge.
  • verb transitive To infect (a computer system) with a rootkit.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From root (access), complete administrative access to a computer.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

root +‎ kit

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Examples

  • The term rootkit is used to define a Trojan (or technology) used to hide the presence of a malicious object (process, file, registry key, network port) from the computer user or

    Softpedia - Windows - All 2010

  • The term rootkit is used to define a Trojan (or technology) used to hide the presence of a malicious object (process, file, registry key, network port) from the computer user or administrator.

    The most recent articles from V3.co.uk 2009

  • All a rootkit is capable of doing is hiding something from the windows api.

    EXTRALIFE – By Scott Johnson - Ha! Sony just earned points…these new ads are awesome. 2009

  • A rootkit is a tool designed to go undetected by the security software used to lock down control of a computer after an initial attack (read: anti-virus and firewalls are useless).

    John Joseph Adams » The Santa Claus worm 2005

  • If the Sony DRM rootkit is active (hiding) in the system during infection, the bot will not run at all.

    Sony BMG DRM bug turns up 2005

  • A rootkit is a set of tools developed to crack a computer system.

    New: Sony BMG rootkit DRM 2005

  • With the amount of press coverage the dirty rootkit is getting, whatever happens it will be hard for Sony to come out of the whole mess without a bigger PR disaster on their hands than they already have.

    WoW! Sony DRM v The Warden 2005

  • Within a week, a "rootkit" -- a form of malicious software -- had been installed on its hard drive.

    Data Storage Today 2009

  • They are called "rootkit" A rootkit is a collection of programs that a hacker uses to mask intrusion and obtain administrator-level access to a computer or computer network.

    Softpedia - Windows - All 2009

  • The software appeared to be a. sys component hiding behind a rootkit, which is software that is designed to hide the fact that a computer has been compromised, according to Trend Micro.

    p2pnet World Headlines – April 9, 2009 2009

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