Never Accept a Trojan Horse

Answer 1

The original Trojan horse was sent as a gift and when opened, revealed hundreds of armed soldiers who wreaked havoc. Today’s Trojan horses are computer malware that appear to be useful software, but can result in stolen personal and financial information.

Many Trojan horses find personal information such as social security numbers, passwords, PIN numbers and bank account information. Although commonly spread through email attachments, it can also be downloaded from the internet, received in a P2P file transfer, or transferred while executing an Internet-based program. It can also be attached to Web Browsers or email programs with security flaws.

The term “Trojan horse virus” is a misnomer. It is not a virus. Viruses, by their very definition, replicate themselves and attach to legitimate files and programs. A Trojan horse does not replicate or infect other files. It doesn’t need to be “cleaned” from the computer’s files and programs; they aren’t affected. Instead it must be removed in its entirety. It should be noted, however, that it can persuade others to open or install it, thereby acting as a virus with the help of computer users.

Trojan Horses often have less malicious, but still unwanted goals. They put advertising on the desktop or install a tool bar on the web browser without notice. Mostly they give access to unwanted parties. These parties can then use the computer remotely to spam others or format the hard drive, for example.

Some Trojans perform key logging functions. This is how they obtain passwords and other normally secure information. They copy and record the keystrokes used to access the computer or various accounts on the Internet. In this way, they aren’t harmful by themselves, but only in interaction with a person using that information for malicious purposes.

To avoid Trojan horses from gaining access to a computer, never open a file attached to an email from an unknown or untrustworthy sender. Make sure to have an updated firewall when using the Internet. Perform virus scans regularly, and always keep browsers and email programs updated. Although not a virus, virus programs still search for and eliminate most Trojan Horses.