Rootkits may be also presented as a Trojan or even as a hidden file along with a seemingly harmless file. This can be a graphic or even a silly application distributed via email. When the victim clicks the program or graphic, the rootkits are installed on their system without their knowledge.

Some of the impacts of rootkits are often to:

• Provide the attacker with complete backdoor access, permitting them to falsify or steal documents.
• Hide other malware, especially keyloggers. The keyloggers may then be used to access and steal the victim's sensitive data.
• Enable the attacker to use the infected machine as a zombie computer to trigger attacks on others.