Their primary objective is to get the access of the system without locking it down and getting detected. The attackers could plant the rootkit in fake software to enter in your system, or they can directly attack the operating system and install the rootkit after getting access to the administrator account. Unfortunately, now the rootkit is primarily used for illicit activities such as hacking. The developers of the operating system intended to use it as backdoor access to fix the software issues at a later stage. Initially, the rootkit was developed as legitimate software.

Meaning a collection of tools to access the root account. While the Kit word represents as a collection of tools. The Root is referred to as a full access user account in the Unix based operating systems. The rootkit is derived from two words Root and Kit. It creates a backdoor for other users to log in and provides full access to the system. It helps hackers in changing or altering the system settings or files the way an administrator could do. Rootkits are malicious software that gives hackers the full administrator rights of your PC.

Is icq a rootkit