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Articles: Electronics -
Trojans
By Joel Walsh
Trojans are not just more dangerous than computer
viruses, they're stealthier, too. Find out where they hide.
Minions of an evil master lurk in your hard drive, crouching
in your system registry, ready to pounce. The word
"Trojan" is a mystery to most people, even many who think they know
its true meaning. If more people really understood what Trojans are
and the risk they pose, there would be fewer Trojans, since fewer
people would ever leave their machines vulnerable to them
A Trojan is malware. Malware is a special kind of software, like
spyware, adware, and viruses that no one wants. Yet a Trojan is more
dangerous than any other kind of malware. Unlike those other types
of malware, Trojans are not mindless flunkies hurled at your
computer by their masters. A Trojan is a master that first craftily
infiltrates your PC, then unleashes its malware
henchman.
• Some Trojans may install worms, which are
programs that use your computer and internet connection to send out
armies of server requests in the hope of shutting a particular
website down, or to spread viruses or worms to other computers.
• Other Trojans are thieves, out to steal your computer's
processing power and turn it over to their hacker masters, often by
setting up a backdoor, a hidden internet connection that allows for
outside manipulation of your machine.
• Some thieving
Trojans are fraudsters that may go after your financial information
by installing keyloggers that record what you type--especially
passwords and important banking numbers.
No one thinks
they have a Trojan on their computer until it is too late. That's
because they do such a good job of blending in.
• Trojans
come disguised in innocuous file names, often pretending to be a
helper application to software or an essential operating system
component.
• Trojans try to avoid calling attention to
themselves, and so will often only interfere a little, if at all,
with your computer's performance, choosing instead to do their dirty
work while your machine is idle. Computers left on and connected to
the internet while their owners are asleep or at work or school are
favorite targets.
Removing Trojans can be a can of
worms. Here's why you need to proceed with caution:
• Since
Trojans can disguise themselves as software your computer actually
needs, you could accidentally delete a vital program or system
registry entry. In the worst case scenario, you won't be able to
restart your computer.
• Many Trojans are trained for
survival. When you try to removal them manually, they may simply
copy themselves to another directory.
Intimidated? You don't
have to be. Rather than trying to defuse a Trojan yourself, why not
call in the bomb squad? Good anti-spyware and antivirus software
will fight Trojans, too. Just make sure to look for a program that
specifically says it fights Trojans. After all, this is no job for
amateurs.
Joel Walsh writes for http://www.spyware-refuge.com about spyware removal: http://www.spyware-refuge.com/spyware-removal.html?
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