The idea of this guide is to make you aware of rootkits, what they can do, their history, and the varying different type of rootkits. I'm also going to discuss couple of possible countermeasures and steps that you can take to defend your self against rootkits.

A rootkit can be best described as a piece of software that functions at the lowest level of the Operating System infiltrating the kernel. Rootkitting is a technique that is often used by hackers and virus creators to hide files and and processes that their intrusion creates. This technology has also been used by manufacturers to hide digital right management software, and one of the best known cases of this was Sony.

Everyone can fall foul to rootkit's, however step's can betaken to protect yourself. Some can be employed by using plain and simple common sense, some by the community, and some by think about security when installing and preparing your base install.

These threats are as real for Windows as they are for Linux. Rootkit's can be broken down into a number of different categories, and as technology has grown so has the number of differing kit types.

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