Customer Reviews

The Rootkit Arsenal: Escape and Evasion in the Dark Corners of the System

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The Rootkit Arsenal: Escape and Evasion in the Dark Corners of the System

Wow...! This was my first reaction when I received this massive 900+ pages book from Amazon. I was just spell bounded and surprised to see such an enormous amount of information compiled on the lesser known area of computer security, the Rootkits.

The book starts with basics of system internals which is essential to understand the depth of Rootkits. It covers about various memory models, interrupts, TSR, Windows architecture etc in detail. Then it delves into explaining the ingredients of Rootkit including installing and launching of the Rootkit. All these system internals have been covered in very precise and concise manner.

The chapter 5 is where the real fun starts as it goes on elaborating all the hooking mechanisms from user land to kernel and then it describes various techniques for detecting these hooking mechanisms. Later chapters does awesome job of explaining the advanced Rootkit techniques. The Anti-Forensics section is just mind blowing, no explanation needed.

One of the salient features of this book is the code samples. Every technique mentioned in this book is illustrated with well explained, working code example. This along with Rootkit detection mechanisms explored in the book sets it apart from its predecessor, Rootkit - Subverting Windows Kernel.

Its clearly evident that author has taken great pain and patience to present the darkest topic of computer arena in a very simple and understandable manner in this gigantic compilation. By far this is the very good reference book and very well recommended for any one who wants to conquer the mysterious world of Rootkits.

Bill Blunden's book, The Rootkit Arsenal: Escape and Evasion in the Dark Corners of the System, is one of the hidden gems out there as far as computer security books are concerned, and I hope that I can convince you to give it a look. This review has been too-long to arrive, as I haven't had the time to read that I would like. That said, I felt it was very important to finally get the review up, as this is a book that I'm sure my regular readers will enjoy.

I first spotted this book on a vendor table at Defcon, and it stood out among the rest mostly because *I hadn't heard of it*. I try to keep up with new book releases, especially on attack-oriented topics that would be of interest to the penetration testers and vulnerability analysts that read this blog. It was surprising to me that one had flown under the radar. I picked it up and flipped through the table of contents [...] (which I encourage you to do as well), and was very impressed with the amount of material it covers.

I looked up the author, and was disappointed to realize that I had missed his talk at Blackhat earlier that week (looking forward to the video). I contacted him, and he was kind enough to supply a review copy of the book. It arrived very quickly, with a humorous personal note on the inside cover, and ever since, I have been learning a lot from it.

The author's style is excellent. The material is technical and has the potential to be very dry, but the text has a very conversational tone, as if it were being presented as a lecture for a (particularly good) class. Each concept is tied back to the main topic: hiding operations and data from the user and operating system, and frustrating forensic analysis. The book reads very well, presenting enough context that you can understand it if you're reading away from a computer, and enough detail that you can follow along and experiment with it if you are at your desk.

I appreciate that this book does not attempt to hold the reader's hand throughout with the ethics of developing rootkits. The author takes a brief moment at the beginning of the book to explain the legitimate needs for security professionals to be familiar with rootkit techniques and development, and points out that the information can be found elsewhere. After this point, the book assumes a level of maturity in its reader that is greatly appreciated.

The first part of the book, "Foundations", has an excellent introduction to IA32 architecture and Windows internals that I have never seen so well-described for beginners. Even if you aren't interested in rootkits, this portion of the book is something I would recommend to anyone getting started in related fields, like reverse-engineering or exploit development. Digging further into the text, the second section on "System Modification" makes up the "meat" of the book, delving into the details of subverting Windows internals in many different ways. As technical and in-depth as the book gets, though, it never seems to leave the reader behind. Each new concept is well-explained and builds upon the material the reader has already learned. You may have to go through the text slower than you had anticipated, and go back to review previous material, but you're never left feeling hopelessly lost.

The remainder of the book is a treat, as well. I can't recall another book that goes into any kind of detail on defeating forensic analysis of memory and file systems. Anyone interested in developing forensic tools or curious about how analysis with tools like Encase and FTK might be subverted, should give it a read. The author closes the text with some strategic guidelines for rootkit development, and his own thoughts on how evasion and deception can be used to similar ends on a larger scale than operating systems.

This is now one of my favorite computer security books, and I believe that if you review its contents, you'll find that you're getting a great value for your money. If you are familiar with C and have a beginner's knowledge of IA-32 assembly, you should have the prerequisites you need to follow along with this book. I highly recommend it, and hope that it becomes less-hidden of a gem that it already is.

Man! This thing is dangerous! The first couple of chapters provide probably one of the best overviews I've seen on the topics of IA86 and Win32 architecture. Then we get into the meat of the techniques for building rootkits. Finally, the author goes into anti-forensics. It's about as deep a dive into the subject as you'll find anywhere with examples that demonstrate how to use rootkits to pull off privilege escalation exploits, subverting group policy, hiding applications, and drivers, etc, etc. After the tutorial chapters, there are gobs and gobs of code (I only wish that it were on CD or downloadable -- but you actually learn from entering and building it). Be forewarned: the code really works!

You cannot become an expert at developing Windows Rootkits without first gaining a thorough understanding of Intel system architecture, Windows architecture and the Windows Driver Model. This book provides some of the best coverage I've seen of those topics, in addition to providing a VERY complete coverage of rootkit development.

Disclaimer: Bill mentions me and my book "Real Digital Forensics" on pages xxvi and 493. He sent me a free review copy of his book.

"Wow." That summarizes my review of "The Rootkit Arsenal" (TRA) by Bill Blunden. If you're a security person and you plan to read one seriously technical book this year, make it TRA. If you decide to really focus your attention, and try the examples in the book, you will be able to write Windows rootkits. Even without taking a hands-on approach, you will learn why you can't trust computers to defend themselves or report their condition in a trustworthy manner.

Author Bill Blunden is an excellent technical writer. He keeps the reader's attention despite the mind-numbing complexity of some of his topics. He also provides exceptional background material and knows how to lead the reader through a series of learning sessions prior to directly addressing writing rootkits. Thanks to this progressive method, the reader acquires a thorough grounding in a variety of topics neglected by other texts. I highly recommend reading this book prior to other books on rootkits, although motivated readers might want to read books like Windows Internals, 5th Ed, prior to TRA.

I especially appreciated Bill's practical approach; he frequently shares tips to solve problems readers will encounter. For example, he describes how to access Microsoft symbols via a remote symbol server, rather than just downloading outdated symbols to a local system. He also explained how to set up a remote kernel debugger using a null modem.

Two other aspects of TRA made an impression on me. Bill very thoroughly discusses Windows and rootkit technology. He outlines numerous options, then examines the pros and cons of each technique. Bill also gives plenty of credit to rootkit pioneers by name, and cites their work frequently. I applaud authors who give both give credit where it is due and recognize that they build on the work of their predecessors.

I have no complaints with TRA. An earlier reviewer bemoaned not be able to download source code from the book's examples, but they are online. (I posted a link in a comment to that earlier review.) I must admit I am not a rootkit developer, so I am not qualified to comment on the nature of the techniques nor the way Bill implements them in his code. However, readers who want to validate his recommendations can download and implement his code for themselves.

It's not too often that a hefty 900 page technical book manages to hold your rapt attention on a plane ride. Suffice to say that this managed to do just that and didn't let go till almost from cover to cover.

Most of the code is the book is Intel architecture and Windows specific, but the sheer breadth and depth of the topics covered is simply amazing. In fact, for those not interested in rootkits per se, this book might even serve as a companion piece to the Windows Internals book by Mark Russinovich.

The one nitpick might be that VMM based rootkits aren't given much coverage, but that should not detract anyone from reading what's easily one of the best (if not the very best) book on the topic.

Highly recommended, and mandatory reading for anyone working on Windows OS system componenents or security software.

This is is a very hefty book and the number of topics covered were extraordinary. It seems like the author was primarily concerned with covering each subject in depth so that no part of a rootkit was left untouched. It makes for some heavy but worthwhile reading as unlike some other books like it that I have read in the past, this one tries to cover many of the fundamentals of creating a rootkit from the ground up and not just the dissection of a current kit.

Overall this is the kind of book you get and add to your library as you will refer back to it many times over the years to come.

This book contains a massive amount of knowledge and is a great resource for anyone wanting to know more about Windows Internals or Rootkit design. My biggest complaint, hands down, is the lack of downloadable source code. There are massive amounts of source code provided in this book and none of it is available in a digital format.

While I assume the author intended this as a form of prevention for those wishing to simply "buy" a rootkit, it only succeeded in annoying me to no end. I would have loved to have worked with several of the techniques described but don't have near enough time nor patience to copy 50+ pages of source code in by hand. I even contacted the publisher seeking downloadable copies but was only provided a series of build scripts which were of no help and contained several empty directories at that.

Still a good resource but if you're like me and learn best from actual interaction with the material then this book may not be for you.

I'm a computer security specialist and wanted to extend my knowledge of programming and computer security to cover rootkits. Despite what many believe to be the wrong way to teach about malware and related areas of computer security, learning how - in depth and fully - a rootkit works programmatically is the only way to develop defensive software and strategies to detect and remove them. This book teaches you all about how rootkits work, in great detail with plenty of code examples that are all written perfectly - no coding errors. The book sits right beside Greg Hoglund's "Rootkits" - both are excellent resources on the topic and the only two around worth reading. This book will teach you how to create a rootkit, to see how it works. It spends a great length of the book going over this and it does so in a very clear and concise way. You will also learn the details of the Windows Operating System and it's architecture - which is invaluable knowledge in-and-of itself. The last chapters of the book detail how to detect hooking and other anti-rootkit detection and removal methods. It's a complete and concise book filled with code and novel ideas on rootkits. I would recommend purchasing this along with Greg Hoglund's book, that will be all you'll need to delve into the complex world of rootkits. You will learn so much about the Operating System as well that this book is well worth the price. I can't say enough about how good it is.

First off, what's a rootkit? Wikipedia says: "A rootkit is software that enables continued privileged access to a computer while actively hiding its presence from administrators by subverting standard operating system functionality or other applications. The term rootkit is a concatenation of "root" (the traditional name of the privileged account on Unix operating systems) and the word "kit" (which refers to the software components that implement the tool). The term "rootkit" has negative connotations through its association with malware.

Adopting an approach that favors full disclosure, The Rootkit Arsenal presents the most accessible, timely, and complete coverage of rootkit technology. This book covers more topics, in greater depth, than any other currently available. In doing so, the author forges through the murky back alleys of the Internet, shedding light on material that has traditionally been poorly documented, partially documented, or intentionally undocumented.

There will be a lot of comments that such information should not be published in a generally available book. But the author takes the view that the bad guys know this stuff, indeed with enough time, enough searching the web you can probably find everything he talks about. But by putting this information available, easily and conveniently to the working system engineer he will be better prepared to fight off attacks.

This is not a book for beginners. He expects you to know the C programming language, note that's the original C not C++.