What Are Rootkits and How to Remove Rootkits From Your Computer?

The variety of computer viruses is increasing, and cybercriminals are coming up with new ways to damage users and profit themselves. A few years ago, the primary task of virus creators was to hack a user's computer, then notify him of this and demand money. Now it is much more interesting for virus creators to get a user's computer under their control in order to use it later, for example, for sending spam, mining, and other activities. Rootkits are used as a virus tool that is used to "hijack" users' computers.

What Are Rootkits?

Rootkits are malicious programs that enter your computer in various ways. For example, a rootkit can get onto a computer with a program downloaded from the Internet, or with a file from a letter. By activating a rootkit on a computer, the user actually gives the attackers access to his PC. After activation, the rootkit makes changes to the registry and Windows libraries, opening up the possibility for its "owner" to control this computer.

Please note: Common mass antiviruses are capable of catching a rootkit at the stage of downloading and downloading it from the Internet. But after he made changes to the operation of the system, they do not see that a virus has infected the computer and cannot solve the problem.

Through a rootkit, hackers can get all the information they need from a computer. It can be confidential data (logins, passwords, correspondence, bank card information, etc.). In addition, through rootkits, hackers can direct a computer and perform various activities, including defrauding ones. 

Example: A rootkit got on the user's computer. After some time, the Internet provider disconnected him from the network, explaining this by “massive flood”. As it turned out, the user's computer distributed broadcast data packets to all network users through the network at a speed of several thousand per minute (while in normal mode the user sends 10-15 such packets).

There are many instances of how hackers can use rootkits on a user's computer. Accordingly, these viruses are extremely dangerous and should not be allowed to infect your computer. 

Please note: Sometimes rootkits infiltrate a computer quite legally, together with one of the programs downloaded from the Internet. Users rarely read license agreements, and in them, the creators of the program can specify that a rootkit will be installed along with their application. 

How to Determine if Your Computer Has a Rootkit?

A rootkit is an extremely unpleasant virus from the point of view of detection. Not all anti-virus programs see him, especially after being introduced into the system, and there are practically no clear signs that he has “settled” on the computer. Among the signs that may indicate the presence of a rootkit on the computer, it is worth highlighting:

Bulk sending of data over the network when all applications interacting with the Internet are deactivated. Unlike many “familiar” viruses, rootkits often mask this factor, since many of them work in “manual” mode. That is, data may not be sent in large quantities all the time, but only at some moments, so it is extremely difficult to “catch” this case.
Computer freezes. Depending on what actions the rootkit owner takes with the victim's computer, the load on the hardware differs. If for some unknown reason, a computer (especially a low-power one) began to constantly freeze by itself, and it is difficult to associate it with some activity of running applications, it is possible that the infiltrated rootkit is to blame.

How to Remove Rootkits?

The best remedy for rootkits is antivirus disks. Many large virus-fighting companies offer their anti-virus discs. Windows Defender Offline and Protegent Anti-Rootkit Tool are good at removing rootkits.

The choice of anti-virus disks to combat rootkits should be made from the consideration that viruses, when starting the anti-virus disk, cannot interfere with the system scan. This is due to the fact that anti-virus disks work when Windows itself is not running, and accompanying programs, including viruses and rootkits, are not running along with it. 

There are also several applications that are effective in fighting rootkits:

TDSSKiller (from Kaspersky);

Antivirus Software (With Anti-Rootkit Tool); (from Protegent)

These utilities are free and can deal with common rootkits.