rootkit

plural rootkits · alternative root kit

1. computer securityA 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.

present singular third person rootkits · participle present rootkitting · participle past rootkitted · past rootkitted · alternative root kit

1. transitiveTo infect (a computer system) with a rootkit.

   If not, your system might have been rootkitted.

   2006, Ed Skoudis, Tom Liston, Counter hack reloaded

   1 more example

   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.

   2000, Seth T. Ross, UNIX system security tools