Safe to download rootkits?

Hi,

I was thinking of downloading some rootkits for testing purposes, from that famous rootkit website, and was wondering if it is safe to do so? I mean, could it cause major problems on my computer by downloading and running them? I do have a program that will allow me to return to a clean state, like my computer was before I downloaded anything, so I should be safe after I'm done testing. But what about during the tests? Will downloading and ruuning rootkits on my system for testing purposes cause any real harm?

 

Generally not (assuming that you do not store sensitive information on your computer).

Please make sure that your "restore app" really works. Otherwise you may have to format your hd.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am using Symantec's Goback to restore my drive. That should work good to remove all rootkits after i'm done right?

 

I do not trust any Symantec appz ;-) Apart from that it should work. But in order to make sure I would also make an image of your hd (use Acronis for that).

 

A rootkit is just a trojan, albeit rather sneaky sometimes, so treat it as such.

If you have confidence in your restore program, there should be no problem.

In the "old" days we used a second computer for testing, or had multiple partitions and dual-booted.

Now, with various restore programs, it's not necessary. I've tested stuff while running Deep Freeze, and there have been no problems.

-rich
________________
~~Be ALERT!!! ~~

 

If I was going to do something like that, I would want to have a full disk image that would restore 100% of everything regardless of what's changed. Really, with stuff like this, if there's any doubt then go with that doubt.

If you insist on doing something like this, it would be much much better to download a trial of VMWare or MS Virtual PC and try it in that, rather than your actual PC, then wipe out that OS image. Besides, then you get to play with 2 things instead of just one