Rootkits Are A Threat

A rootkit is malware, one or sometimes more programs, that try to take control (limited or otherwise) of your computer. It's something you have to be really careful of- even Sony distributed a rootkit for a while, disguised as CD copy protection.

I'm telling you this because I just read an article on PC World's Business Center that included tests of Antivirus software (you know, the stuff you should have on your computer, like McAfee or Norton or OneCare or AVG). The tests concluded that, unless the software is designed specifically to find rootkits, it does very poorly. That's bad news for all of us.

However, I was mildly surpised to see that Windows Vista, by default, stopped ALL of the rootkits on its own! Windows Vista, as you might know, is the new Windows Operating System (OS) that people have been bashing for two years. Personally, I use it, think most of the complaints are misleading. The more popular complaints come from people who obviously didn't know what they were doing, or who had little to no patience. The only time I had a problem with Vista is when I installed a new processor in my computer. And that's tricky to do, no matter what OS you use. Anyway, this particular bit is about the UAC.

The UAC, or User Account Control, is the thing that people say is annoying, it makes a popup show up on the screen any time you try to chance important Windows settings, or install certain types of software. The UAC has even been made fun of by Apple. Of course, anyone with half a brain knows that most of those Apple commercials are BS. They are amusing,
In this case, every time a rootkit tried to install itself on Windows Vista, the UAC caught it and stopped it.

For everyone that bought Vista and turned off the UAC, well, those rootkits would slip right in without a problem.

It doesn't seem so annoying when you get an example of why it's there, does it?