Government-Funded Startup Blasts Rootkits
A startup funded by the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency is ready to emerge from stealth mode with hardware-
and software-based technologies to fight the rapid spread of malicious
rootkits.
Komoku, of College Park, Md., plans to ship a beta of Gamma, a new
rootkit detection tool that builds on a prototype used by several
sensitive U.S. government departments to find operating system
abnormalities that may be linked to malicious rootkit activity.
A rootkit modifies the flow of the kernel to hide the presence of an
attack or compromise on a machine. It gives a hacker remote user
access to a compromised system while avoiding detection from
anti-virus scanners.
The company's prototype, called CoPilot, is a high-assurance PCI card
capable of monitoring the host's memory and file system at the
hardware level. It is specifically geared towards high-security
servers and computers.
Gamma, meanwhile, is a separate, software-only clone of CoPilot that
will target businesses interested in a low-assurance tool for
protecting laptops and personal computers.
Komoku launched quietly in 2004 with about $2.5 million in funding and
rootkit detection contracts from DARPA, the Department of Homeland
Security and the U.S. Navy.
Full Article:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1951941,00.asp
Get Norton 360 Version 4.0 - All-In-One Security.
If you have a non-current version of a Symantec security program and wish to renew your definition updates subscription, or upgrade to a new version at a discount, go to the Norton Product Upgrades & Renewals page.
Wiz's Blog is written by Bob "Wiz" Feinberg, an experienced freelance computer consultant, troubleshooter and webmaster. Wiz's specialty is in computer and website security. 