rootkit

noun

root·​kit ˈrüt-ˌkit 

ˈru̇t-

variants or less commonly root kit

computers

: a malicious piece of software that grants a remote operator complete access to a computer system

Rootkits maliciously change a computer's operating system without a user's knowledge and then cover up their tracks. The hacker who installed the rootkit is then able to monitor the infected computer and use it to launch other attacks.

—Andrea Caumont

Examples of rootkit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While the Secure Vault aims to enable a trusted environment, Secure AI is an inference processor that is tasked with detecting and blocking attacks by looking for suspicious behavior, such as the very low-level rootkit attacks previously mentioned. —Matt Kimball, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024

Krasue’s rootkit is drawn from public sources (3 open-source Linux Kernel Module rootkits), as is the case with many Linux rootkits. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 8 Dec. 2023

During the initialization phase, the rootkit conceals its own presence. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 8 Dec. 2023

Researchers so far have been unable to determine the entry point that allows the rootkit to get installed in the first place. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 26 July 2022

Kaspersky detected the rootkit running on computers in China, Vietnam, Iran, and Russia. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 26 July 2022

In internal testing, the company recreated the Drovorub rootkit. —Matt Kimball, Forbes, 22 June 2021

An attacker could also infect the machine with a rootkit—malicious code that’s difficult or impossible to detect—that would run in system management mode until the next reboot. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 14 Nov. 2020

Russia allegedly used Drovorub to plant backdoors; the versatile malware consisted of an implant, kernel module rootkit, file transfer and port forwarding tool, and command and control server. —Brian Barrett, Wired, 15 Aug. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1994, in the meaning defined above