Sony's DRM rootkit causes lots of anger

Since last week there has been many reaction on the Web on a new anti-piracy technique used by Sony. A user reported a CD from Sony BMG had installed software on his computer that uses the same techniques for hiding itself as the worst types of spyware.

This rootkit from Sony can even be used by virus and worm writers to hide their own malicious code, a security expert warns.

A rootkit works at the very lowest levels of the Windows operating system to cloak files. Spyware purveyors use the technique to hide their code from programs designed to find and remove it.

In Sony's case, the rootkit was part of a media player designed to restrict how a CD's tunes are played, stored to a computer's hard drive or copied, and was used to hide those files, making it difficult to get around the protection.

The software gets installed when you try to play the disc on your PC and it's very hard to remove without damaging your Windows OS. Read on over here to learn more.