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A report on the fast development of rootkits has been released by Kaspersky Lab, a developer of secure content management solutions aiming to protect against viruses, spyware, Trojans, hacker attacks and spam.

Rootkits are described as a set of programs enabling a hacker to maintain access to a computer after cracking it, while preventing the hacker from being detected. Kaspersky Lab's report is said to look at how rootkits are detected, why they are dangerous and why their use is increasing.

Rootkit detection is understood to have almost doubled in April this year and the source code for many rootkits can be found freely on the Internet. It is said that virus writers can modify the code fairly easily, and because many Windows users use the administrator's account it becomes easier for a rootkit to be installed. While spyware developers and illegal virus writers have said that programs with rootkits cannot be detected by antivirus programs, Kaspersky Lab claimed that its latest antivirus products include effective methods to combat rootkits.

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