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.
What Is a Trojan?
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.
What Trojans Do
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.
How Do Trojans Hide?
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.
How Do You Remove Trojans?
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.
About
the author: Joel Walsh writes for http://www.spyware-refuge.com/ about
spyware removal: http://www.spyware-refuge.com/spyware-removal.html?%20spyware%20remova |
