ESET, a global provider of security software for enterprises and consumers, today announced that its NOD32 solution with ThreatSense® technology has been enhanced to protect users and organizations against stealth rootkit applications. Rootkits, which by design are highly undetectable, are widely known to escape discovery by traditional signature-based antivirus methods.

Rootkits recently came to public attention when it was discovered that Sony included a rootkit on some of its music CDs and video DVDs in an effort to prevent illegal copying and distribution of copyrighted material. Designed specifically to be “invisible” to users, rootkits can be used to hide malicious software, giving criminals the opportunity to exploit unprotected computers.

“Rootkit detection is based on the new generation of intelligent signatures, which is a part of the ThreatSense technology” says Richard Marko, chief software engineer for ESET. “Currently, ESET is the only integrated threat protection system known to proactively detect even unknown rootkits.”

ESET’s NOD32 ThreatSense® technology is a sophisticated detection system based on advanced heuristics that proactively identifies previously-unknown malware, such as that which exploited the Sony rootkit.

Rootkit protection is available immediately to current NOD32 license holders, and will be automatically installed to computers configured to receive automatic program component updates. To download a free trial copy of NOD32, please visit www.eset.com.