How Does a Trojan Virus Work?
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History
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During the Trojan War in Greek mythology, the Greeks pretended to give up on invading the hard-to-breach city of Troy. The Greeks had fought long and hard and acted as if they couldn't battle anymore. They decided to sail away. But before they left, they had a peace offering for the city of Troy. They created a giant, wooden horse knowing the people of Troy would take it inside, since they worshipped horses. The Trojans, however, didn't know that there were hundreds of soldiers inside that horse. They waited until the city slept before they came out and took control of Troy. So what does that have to do with computer viruses, especially Trojan ones? Well, a Trojan virus works almost the same way.
The Friendly E-mail
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A Trojan virus starts off much like the Trojan horse and how the city of Troy perceived it: as a gift. You might get a friendly looking, non-descript but slightly inviting email. Your email may say something like "Open this for a big smile" or "Saw you last night." Inside that email may be a link to a free gift llabeled, for example, "free aquarium backgrounds here." Once you click on that link and download the program, the invasion begins.
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The Invasion
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Once that free program is opened up into your computer, the Trojan virus begins its dirty work. It starts to unload other programs that turn your computer into a server that sends information to the client, or the virus's creator. Those programs can do steal data out of your hard drive, corrupt other programs, attach itself to your e-mail list and spread other viruses or steal bank account information and give it straight to the client. All of this can happen without your knowledge. All you may know is that you have a really pretty aquarium background that you didn't pay a dime for.
Getting Rid of A Trojan
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Personal firewalls can stop some Trojan viruses, but not all of them. Your best bet is to get a file scanning program that constantly updates the virus lists. Trojan virus designers always try to step up their game; a constantly updating virus scanner will try to stay one step ahead.
But when it comes right down to it you should just be more mindful of any "free" programs and emails from people you don't know or sites you don't recognize. In the world of the internet, free stuff is often too good to be true.
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