Rootkits are the most difficult of malware to detect and remove: they often evade detection by anti-malware software, and even if they are discovered, they can still be difficult to completely eradicate. A rootkit typically hijacks "hooks" in the operating system -- basically the control data in the kernel used to augment or extend the features of an OS -- in order to hide out in the OS. This in turn lets the rootkit intercept and manipulate the system's data, remain invisible to the user and anti-malware tools, and to install other malware aimed at stealing data from the system.
"Then the rootkit can hijack and manipulate the results seen by the user applications ... only allowing a user to see what it wants them to see," says Xuxian Jiang, assistant professor of computer science at NC State and a member of the research team.
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