[ news_security_news ]
McAfee: Stealth Technology On The Rise
Chris Crum
Staff Writer
2006-04-17
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Reulsts from a recent study by McAfee have shown that the use of stealth technologies for concealing malware and Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) is increasing.
The company says that in the past 3 years, the use of stealth technology has risen over 600%.
McAfee attributes this increase to online collaborative research efforts using sites that have hundreds of lines of rootkit code. Malicious programs (not commercial applications) that use stealth techonology are considered rootkits.
The use of stealth technology is not limited to malware, but mainstream commercial software and even some security vendors have been caught using it.
McAfee says that with the availability of rootkit code and stealth creation kits, malware authors can more easily hide processes, files, and registry keys, without detailed knowledge of the target operating system.
"This trend in malware evolution is creating hardier and ever more virulent strains of malware that will continue to threaten businesses and consumers alike," says McAfee senior vice president of global threats, Stuart McClure.
Though the study blames the open-source environment for the increased complexity of rootkits, Windows-based stealth technology is largely dominate.
Add to | DiggThis | Yahoo! My Web
Technorati: McAfee, stealth, rootkit
About the Author:
Chris Crum is a staff writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
More news_security_news Articles
Insider Reports RSS Feed
|
|
iEntry 10th Anniversary
RSS
Archive
