And there are lots of other examples of things which can be used for different purposes, good or bad.

What an individual etc does with whatever is down to them to make the right choices, or NOT !

Writing and selling an RK is NOT illegal, it’s the other stuff that’s tagged onto it by bad people that does the harm. A ” pure ” RK on its own does no damage, it would just sit there doing nothing. It’s just a way to gain part or full hidden access to a computer. In order for something nasty/dodgy to happen, an RK has to come with an attached payload. The RK is just the carrier/hider of something worse.

The term RK is used in Anti Virus, Security etc circles as a generic name which includes, with and without the payload, the actual Trojan etc.

Either way you wouldn’t want one in your comp, and eliminating them Completely can be a nightmare. The ONLY real way to be sure it’s gone, is to fdisk and then reformat, and then Reinstall everything.

You might like to check some of these threads out for further info etc on Detection/Removal -

http://www.testing.onlytherightanswers.com/
modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=9&
sid=e846d86f554b722714d9f4349b67bd2c

Spanner

Disable/Prompt - ActiveX/Active Scripting/Java and don’t allow Auto Installs.

A good FW set up for MAX Security.

And if you don’t visit dodgy sites etc And/Or click on unknown crap on ANY site or in emails you have very little if Anything to fear.

hf and co are the ones who give the ” security ” people a good needed kick up the rear to wake them up and improve things.

What others do with these ” RK’s ” is a different matter though !

Spanner