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The original meaning of "Trojan Horse" was something that masquerades as one thing but is really something else. The Greeks built a large wooden horse to present as a gift to the people of Troy. But, inside, the Greeks hid their soldiers so they could gain access to the City; the Trojans (people of Troy) brought the horse into their fortified city and while they slept, the Greek soldiers emerged from their hiding place inside the horse and opened the gates of the city. The rest of the Greek army could then enter the city; they overpowered the Trojans and won the war.

Ever since, the term "Trojan Horse" has been used to describe any situation in which clever deception is used to "win" in an oppositional situation (i.e. to win over an opponent). The term does not always need to be used in a military sense. Overall, Trojan Horse means being conquered or fooled by clever deception, and often with danger as an underlying theme.

With the advent of Computer Viruses, the term has become more well-known as a small computer program designed to look like one thing which is often a desirable thing (a video; an MP3 song; a popular downloadable file; a popular image), but the program delivers a way to "invade and conquer" an unsuspecting person's personal computer. The intent is to make each infected computer do a malicious task, to gain personal information, or to invade more computers that might give a better "return" to the computer criminal's goals.

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14y ago

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