Rootkit

Now we come to the REALLY nasty bug on the Internet. Rootkits. Rootkits are particularly nasty because they're designed specifically to not be found. Not by anti-virus programs and not by malware detection programs. The well written rootkit is almost impossible to detect by your normal security software programs. Now before you start thinking about committing hari-kari, there are tools available for your arsenal.

One of the best tools out there is automatically installed and run on your machine by Microsoft. Yep! The Malicious Software removal tool does a pretty bang up job of revealing and removing rootkits. However, it's not infallible. So, there's also Sysinternals, also from Microsoft. A third program is Anti-Rootkit from Sophos.

So, you've run your anti-virus programs, your Malware detection programs, changed your passwords and you're still getting compromised. There's a chance you may have a rootkit. Get one of the programs mentioned earlier and install it to your machine. Run it and see what it detects. Bear in mind, rootkits are designed to not be detected. So if one tool doesn't work, try another.

"So Drezbek! I've run every stinking tool under the sun, and my WoW account is STILL getting hacked. What do I doooooooooooooooooo?!!!!"

I'm old school. If I suspect a rootkit, I don't trust ANYTHING to remove it. For rootkits I do the 3 R's. Reformat, Repartition, and Reinstall. That is a sure fire, 100% guaranteed way of ensuring your system is clean from all nasties. Just make sure you don't reinstall from a backup. You stand a chance of reinfecting your system and starting all over again.

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