Well, this is definitely nice to see. While I personal still feel pretty skeptical when it comes to rootkit protection, I know that advances are being made in the field every day. While there are many people out there who are still unfamiliar with the term ‘rootkit’, it is good that they will now have a place where they can obtain some free protection.

GRISOFT expands its comprehensive offering of free security applications

Avalanche Technology Group, the Australasian distributor of GRISOFT’s AVG Internet security software, today announced AVG Anti-Rootkit, a new, free product aimed at detecting and removing rootkits. Rootkits are a specific malware type which hide in other applications or in a computer‘s operating system kernel. They allow malicious applications to collect passwords and sensitive data from the infected computer, without the user’s knowledge, for personal information theft, spam relay and other criminal intent.

Rootkits have become a severe threat compared to traditional malware because conventional antivirus solutions often miss them. They execute by embedding applications within the operating system. As the operating system is an essential application to many necessary programs (including antivirus protection), it is important to correctly distinguish between malicious rootkits and legitimately hidden processes. GRISOFT conducted six months of open beta program testing to ensure AVG Anti-Rootkit is able to protect users and operating systems without the confusion and hassle of false alarms.[more]

Tags: Computer Protection