Rootkit
A type of malware designed to gain and hide privileged, administrator-level access to a system while evading detection.
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A rootkit↗ is a type of malware↗ designed to gain privileged, administrator-level access to a computer while actively hiding its own presence from the operating system, antivirus↗ software, and the user. The name comes from "root," the highest level of access on Unix-like systems.
Rootkits are especially dangerous because they can burrow deep into the operating system or even hardware firmware, making them extremely difficult to detect and remove with standard tools. In severe cases, completely reinstalling the operating system is the only reliable way to guarantee a rootkit is gone.