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rootkit. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
rootkit, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
rootkit in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
rootkit you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From root + kit.
Pronunciation
Noun
rootkit (plural rootkits)
- (computer security) A set of software tools used by a third party to gain unauthorized access to a computer system and control the system while concealing itself from the user.
Hypernyms
Verb
rootkit (third-person singular simple present rootkits, present participle rootkitting, simple past and past participle rootkitted)
- (transitive) To infect (a computer system) with a rootkit.
2000, Seth T. Ross, UNIX system security tools:Given crackers' propensity for "rootkitting" systems — installing altered system binaries to facilitate future access — systematic integrity checks using message digest algorithms or one-way hash functions can be an important detection safeguard.
2006, Ed Skoudis, Tom Liston, Counter hack reloaded:If not, your system might have been rootkitted.
See also