Symantec, Kaspersky criticized for cloaking software

Windows expert says antivirus firms have "no good justification" for rootkit technique
JANUARY 12, 2006 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - The Windows operating system expert who exposed Sony BMG Music Entertainment's use of rootkit cloaking techniques last year is now criticizing security vendors Symantec Corp. and Kaspersky Lab Ltd. for shipping software that works in a similar manner.

Mark Russinovich, chief software architect at systems software company Winternals Software LP, says that the techniques used by Symantec's Norton SystemWorks and Kaspersky's Anti-Virus products are rootkits, a term usually reserved for the techniques used by malicious software to avoid detection on an infected PC. There is "no good justification," for the use of such techniques, Russinovich said. "If the vendor believes that the implementation of their software requires a rootkit, then I think they need to go back and rearchitect it."

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http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,107695,00.html?source=x06

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