How does folder hiding software work?

Question

Last few days i have been working on building an application to hide folders(thanks to the paid versions of such softwares). After a heavy googling I zeroed into some shell script that would first create a folder and then rename the folder to "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}". It would then hide this folder by using the command attrib -s -h Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}. The funda behind this is to make it a system folder and hide it. But if you would uncheck the Hide sytem folders in Folder option the control panel becomes visible. I would like to make this folder completely invisible as how the other folder protecting softwares do.

Can somebody throw some more light on this?

Thanks a ton...

Answer 1

What you are asking for is rootkit and is consider unethical and even illegal in some countries. While I currently lack the reputation to down vote you, I hope someone will close this question.

Answer 2

Most folder hiding software works by implementing either an extension for Windows Explorer or a file system filter driver.

The first method means that certain items will not be visible when browsing folders in Windows via the UI, but will still be visible to other software and via the command prompt. For example, the Recycle Bin and Temporary Internet Files folders work this way.

The file system filter driver method proxies calls between Windows and the underlying file system and only allows certain requests through. This is similar to how virus scanners prevent access to infected files.

Answer 3

The general idea is that you hook the file system API's and filter out the file system entries you want to hide.

But JelloMonkey is right - this is rootkit behavior and you will get flagged as malicious by rootkit detectors for this kind of behavior. That's likely to get your entire directory quarantined or deleted.