What is a Trojan?

QQ is a popular instant message in China, which is really similar with Facebook. I started to use it frequently when I was in middle school. Once, I got from my friend a message, which stated that my friend wanted to borrow 300 dollars from me because her mom had car accident, and she needed that money to save her mom. Also, it listed an account number that let me transfer money to there. I was shocked, and called my friend immediately. When my friend knew why I called, she explained me that no car accident happened to her mom; it was a fraud. She had many friends call to ask about her mom that day, so she checked her computer and found that the Trojan intruded into her QQ and sent that message to her friends. In case of this trouble happen to me, I installed an antivirus software to protect my computer. From this case, I was curious about what was Trojan, and how it intruded into computer.

Trojan horse viruses formed very early. It was simple when the Internet based on UNIX, but as the development of Windows, it became more complex. Trojan is a malware program, which can steal account passwords by invading computers. It’s a specific type of computer virus, usually is used by hackers. Different from other computer viruses, it neither can self-replicate, nor can infect other files in the computer. It uses masquerade to attract users to download and execute. It will provide a backdoor for the controller to have unauthorized access to the affected computer (Cole 200). The controller can arbitrarily destroy or steal users’ files, even control the computer from distance. Trojans usually will run automatically. It will record the account name and password when users log in their accounts, such as Facebook or online banking account, and send the stolen information to the controller’s email address. All of these behaviors attack computer’s security and commit computer crime.

Reference: Cole, Eric. Network Security Bible. Second ed. N.p.: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print

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