F-Secure BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology

What is a Rootkit:

A rootkit is a program (or combination of several programs) designed to take fundamental control (in Unix terms "root" access, in Windows "Administrator" access) of a computer system, without authorization by the system's owners and legitimate managers. Access to the hardware (i.e., the reset switch) is rarely required as a rootkit is intended to seize control of the operating system running on the hardware. Typically, rootkits act to obscure their presence on the system through subversion or evasion of standard operating system security mechanisms. Often, they are Trojans as well, thus fooling users into believing they are safe to run on their systems. Techniques used to accomplish this can include concealing running processes from monitoring programs, or hiding files or system data from the operating system.

Rootkits may have originated as regular applications, intended to take control of a failing or unresponsive system, but in recent years have been largely malware to help intruders gain access to systems while avoiding detection. Rootkits exist for a variety of operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Linux and Solaris. Rootkits often modify parts of the operating system or install themselves as drivers or kernel modules, depending on the internal details of an operating system's mechanisms.

A successfully installed rootkit allows unauthorized users to act as system administrators, and thus to take full control of the 'rootkitted', or 'rooted' system. Secondary to this purpose, most rootkits typically hide files, network connections, blocks of memory, or Windows Registry entries from other programs used by system administrators to detect specially privileged accesses to computer system resources. However, a rootkit may masquerade as or be intertwined with other files, programs, or libraries with other purposes. It is important to note that while the utilities bundled with a rootkit may be maliciously intended, not every rootkit is always malicious. Rootkits may be used for both productive and destructive purposes.

A rootkit which hides utility programs, usually does so to abuse a compromised system, and often include so-called "backdoors" to help the attacker subsequently access at will. A simple example might be a rootkit which hides an application that spawns a command processing shell when the attacker connects to a particular network port on the system. Kernel rootkits may include similar functionality. A backdoor may also allow processes started by a non-privileged user to run as though it were started by a privileged user (including the root user) and to carry out functions normally reserved for the superuser.

Many other utility tools useful for abuse can be hidden using rootkits. This includes tools for further attacks against computer systems with which the compromised system communicates, such as sniffers and keyloggers. A possible abuse is to use a compromised computer as a staging ground for further abuse (see zombie computer). This is often done to make the abuse appear to originate from the compromised system (or network) instead of the attacker's. Tools for such attacks can include denial-of-service attack tools, tools to relay chat sessions, and e-mail spam distribution. A major malicious use for rootkits is to allow the rootkit's programmer to see and access user names and log-in information of systems requiring them. Collection of such information from many systems (thousands or more) is easily possible. This makes rootkits even more hazardous, as it allows trojans to access this personal information while the rootkit covers it up.

It has become increasingly popular for virus writers to make use of rootkit technologies. The reason for this is that they make it possible to hide malware from PC users and antivirus programs. Numerous source codes for ready-made rootkits can be found on the Internet, which inevitably leads to their widespread use in various trojans or spyware programs etc.

Rootkit is a term now somewhat loosely applied to cloaking techniques and methods.

Source:
www. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit

What is F-Secure BlackLight?

F-Secure BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology detects objects that are hidden from users and security tools and offers the user an option to remove them. The main purpose is to fight rootkits and all kinds of malware that use rootkits. The F-Secure BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology works by examining the system at a deep level. This enables BlackLight to detect objects that are hidden from the user and security software.

What are the key benefits of F-Secure BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology?

F-Secure BlackLight can detect and eliminate active rootkits from the computer. Traditional antivirus scanners can't detect active rootkits.
On a normal system F-Secure BlackLight does not confront the user with a long list of suspected objects. This makes F-Secure BlackLight useful even for non-technical users.
F-Secure BlackLight Rootkit Elimination Technology can be used in the background during normal system operation. Other available scanners require a reboot during scan or may produce false positives if the system is used during scanning.

To make a long story short:
F-Secure BlackLight is intended for all computer users who want additional security by checking their system for rootkits.