What Is A Trojan Horse?
Before we begin let me make it clear that I’m not talking about anything remotely connected to rubber! (you need an altogether different category for those sort of Trojans!)
The Trojan Horse of mythology was named after a huge wooden horse given to the city of Troy as a gift by the supposedly retreating Greek army.
The residents of Troy never were able to decline a gift horse and so they took it into their city, allowing the soldiers inside to sneak out at night and butcher them.
In more modern times a Trojan is associated with computing – it is a file that may appear at first to offer some benefit but ultimately goes on to cause some sort of damage.
The fact that a Trojan appears to be a useful file or application is what tricks users into installing it in the first place.
I would like to point out though that a Trojan is not a virus, even though many people do confuse the two – a Trojan cannot replicate itself like a virus does.
Once you have a Trojan on your system the consequences can be quite severe – they can access all sorts of files, create openings for hackers to create more mischief, allow personal data to be stolen and even change the way your web browser works.
For example, one of the latest Trojans (the Google Redirect Trojan) that has come to light is able to change the way search engine results are displayed, causing fake adverts to appear which earn money for the hackers when followed through.
Defending yourself against a Trojan isn’t so hard though you’ll be pleased to hear – just install one of the latest antivirus programs onto your system and keep it continually updated and you will be fairly safe.
Another good defence mechanism is a firewall which comes as standard on modern Windows installations – ensure it is switched on and unauthorised traffic into and out of your computer should be blocked.
Lastly, add in a pinch of the most vital ingredient – common sense – and don’t download anything from sites you don’t know or completely trust.
After all, a computer is only ever as secure as the dumb human who is operating it.
You can learn more about worms, viruses and Trojans on Lee Ives’ blog. Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/what-is-a-trojan-horse-1784592.html
