rootkit

American  

[root-kit, root‑] / ˈrutˌkɪt, ˈrʊt‑ /

noun

1. malicious software that allows an unauthorized user to maintain access to a computer by concealing programs and processes, files, or data from the operating system.

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verb (used with or without object)

rootkitted, rootkitting

1. to install such software on (a computer, electronic device, etc.).

   I think my system has been rootkitted.

rootkit British  

/ ˈruːtˌkɪt /

noun

1. computing a set of programs used to gain unauthorized access to a computer's operating system, esp in order to destroy or alter files, attack other computers, etc

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Etymology

Origin of rootkit

First recorded in 1990–95; root ¹ (conventional name for the username or account of a UNIX administrator) + kit ¹

Example Sentences

A rootkit is malware that hides in the computer’s boot software and re-establishes itself each time you boot the computer.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 23, 2018

Whatever commissions Lenovo might have received from Superfish must have been paltry, especially compared with the severity of Superfish’s root-certificate hole—which, stunningly, leaves users even more exposed than Sony’s rootkit did.

From Slate • Feb. 20, 2015

The closest antecedent is the Sony DRM rootkit scandal of 2005, in which Sony automatically installed malware onto users’ computers whenever someone loaded certain of their CDs.

From Slate • Feb. 20, 2015

Technically, it was a rootkit: a piece of self-concealing software that installed itself onto your PC.

From Scientific American • Jan. 11, 2014

When a firestorm of public outrage erupted, Sony's response was to offer an "uninstaller" that, in fact, simply unhid the rootkit program and installed even more copy-protection software.

From Scientific American • Jan. 11, 2014