A Trojan Horse, more commonly referred to as simply a “trojan”, is a non-replicating malware application that masquerades as a useful application but instead allows unauthorized access to a user’s system.
In almost every instance the user actively executes the trojan under the belief that they are using a benign application such as a game or screensaver installer. Instead the executable makes changes to the user’s system which allows a third party to access and use the computer for their purposes. Trojan applications are commonly used to control remote computers to create a bot net (a network of zombie computers that can be directed to perform tasks like a hive of insects) or to log keystrokes and acquire the user’s logins, passwords, financial information, and other sensitive material.
- By Jason Fitzpatrick on 01/21/13