Hi guys!
New user/IT-noob here.
I was watching this video on window's security
on file hiding ( http://www.metacafe.com/watch/379519/windo...ding_files_ads/ )
Googling around for info on this area, all I could found is results on its threat, otherwise profound explaination
of its origins. Could anyone explain to me of its origin and purpose in simple? Is this feature necessary in the first place?
Cheers,
John
Welcome to the forum john_j,
Damn hard subject to kick off with and a bit beyond my common knowledge but I'll give it a shot
Rootkits and alternative data streams are a field unto their own requiring specialised tools such as Gmer, RootRevealer and Icesword to see them, and even then some rootkits can still hide their presence.
Some AV's can detect malicious rootkits and there are also specialised tools for detecting such.
F-Secure's Blacklight is one with a couple of others around as well.
Googling "alternative data streams" brings up a few good sites.
Ad-Aware can scan ADS on hard disk volumes.
Then there's ADS SPY from the maker of HijackThis which can also scan hard disk volumes.