Malware surveillance of Tibetan movement highlights need for protection against rootkits

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Wednesday, August 19, 2009—Just a few months after a University of Cambridge report alleged that the Chinese government used rootkits to conduct spy on the movements of the Dalai Lama and steal documents from his office, Tizer Secure™ has released a new tool that detects and removes most types of rootkits from Windows PCs.

Rootkits can enter your system as Trojans and compromise processes that are in place to prevent illicit or backdoor entry into your computer. This gives attackers the ability to open a secret portal through which they can access your PC to alter files, steal passwords, intercept communications, access sensitive files, turn on cameras and microphones to eavesdrop and use your resources to distribute spam.

That's how the Chinese reportedly intercepted an email invitation to a foreign diplomat sent from The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. According to The Snooping Dragon: Social-Malware Surveillance of the Tibetan Movement, a technical paper from the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, the Chinese government contacted the diplomat and discouraged the meeting.

The research behind the paper contributed to a larger report from the University of Toronto called Tracking GhostNet: Investigating Cyber Espionage Network. The foreign diplomat case was just one example of social malware surveillance tied to rootkits.

In fact, the GhostNet report uncovered a network of 1,295 infected host computers in 103 countries. The report classified 30% of those infected hosts as high-value targets, including computers located at ministries of foreign affairs, embassies and international organizations where sensitive information was compromised over an extended period of time.

“This increasing trend of attackers using rootkits to gain undetected access into unprotected computer systems is becoming too big of an issue to ignore,” says Joy Valentine, Vice President of X-Wire Technology, the Chapel Hill, NC, company behind Tizer Rookit Razor™. “That is why we are releasing a free tool to help Windows PC users detect and remove rootkits.”

Tizer Rootkit Razor's™ approach differs from other rootkit tools. By tracking rootkits through the processes they hide, Tizer Rootkit Razor can more accurate expose them. Also, seeing these hidden processes makes it easier to remove rootkits without destabilizing your system.

Because the Tizer Rootkit Razor™ technology is so effective in detecting and removing nearly all known rootkits on Windows XP- and Windows 2000-based systems, that X-Wire Technology has included it within it's internet security software, Tizer Secure™, an all-in-one computer security application that ensures protection, privacy and performance.

X-Wire Technology offers Tizer Rootkit Razor™ as a separate free utility to download for personal use. You can also browse the company's other free Tizer utilities.

About X-Wire Technology
Headquartered in Chapel Hill, NC, and with offices in Mumbai, India, X-Wire Technology provides IT services to clients around the world. As a Microsoft Certified Partner that has achieved Microsoft Competency in ISV/Software Solutions, X-Wire Technology specializes in product development, technical support, software customization, business automation, ecommerce solutions, web programming, design and engineering services.