Trojan horses are not really viruses
but another kind of malware that sit on your desktopo permanently.
Odysseus, if he ever lived, would not have imagined the use his idea
to end a long war would be put to in the 21st century,
if he ever thought about the future at this stage. He was a heroic
man fighting the adversities of life, and who reluctantly went to
war to save Helen whom he might have married when young but did not
with the promise to defend her always.
Trojans: What they are
A Trojan is a useful utility program that
you might have downloaded from the internet, a text editor, a free game,
or graphics utility, a free upgrade to IE, but which has "additional"
functions unknown to you, such as keeping a tab on your usernames and
passwords, what web sites you visit, your email address book, etc. It
stays put on your system, and can not attach itself and replicate like
a virus.
Trojan Horses: What they can do?
A Trojan runs with the privileges of the
user, and can therefore do a good amount of damage as well, such as:
- deleting files
- transmitting files to outsiders
- modifying files
- installing programs that provide unauthorized
network access
- increase level of privilege and cause
more harm
- install viruses
- install other Trojan horses
How they lure?
The troy soldiers were captivated by the
big horse, and brought it in for their children to play around! Same
method works here also. It could also be a phishing like email asking
you to download a patch from a well-known security organization. A program
compiler could be a Trojan! It could also be a Java applet, JavaScript,
ActiveX control, or other form of executable content that you may download
thinking it is harmless.
Trojan Horses: How to prevent them?
The following preventive steps can be taken.
- Install the latest antispyware software,
or any antivirus software with this feature.
- Make sure the programs you use come
from trusted and authorized sources.
- Not to fall prey to Spam that imitates
well-known companies and fake virus alerts.
- Timestamps, file sizes, or other file
attributes do not necessarily indicate Trojans.
- If you fall victim of a Trojan that
brings in an intruder, disconnect and rebuild the system.