In the early days, back when an 8086 was cutting-edge technology, the skills
required to undermine a system and evade detection were funneled along an
informal network of Black Hats. All told, they did a pretty good job of sharing
information. Membership was by invitation only and meetings were often
held in secret. In a manner that resembles a guild, more experienced members
would carefully recruit and mentor their proteges. Birds of a feather, I
suppose; affinity works in the underground the same way as it does for the
Skull and Bones crowd at Yale. For the rest of us, the information accumulated
by the Black Hat groups was shrouded in obscurity.

This state of affairs is changing and this book is an attempt to hasten the
trend. When it comes to powerful technology, it's never a good idea to stick
your head in the sand (or encourage others to do so). Hence, my goal over
the next few hundred pages is to present an accessible, timely, and methodical
presentation on rootkit internals. All told, this book covers more topics, in
greater depth, than any other book currently available. It's a compendium of
ideas and code that draws its information from a broad spectrum of sources.
I've dedicated the past two years of my life to ensuring that this is the case.
In doing so I've waded through a vast murky swamp of poorly documented,

partially documented, and undocumented material. This book is your opportunity
to hit the ground running and pick up things the easy way.