The 'root' of the matter

I ran across this very interesting article today. While this really doesn't currently affect Mac OS X, it theoretically could, eventually. However, in order for this to work, someone has to gain access to the root password of your machine -- another reason to make sure you have a good password! If you don't have the root password turned on (or don't know what I'm talking about), you probably don't need to worry about this -- OS X, by default, disables the root password on your system.

Mac Security: Identifying Changes to the File System by Peter Hickman -- Black-hat hackers often use a bundle of tools called a rootkit to secure access to your machine and cover their tracks. When working on your computer, they need to store files and be sure that you will not stumble across them and get suspicious. Peter Hickman explains how this works.