Trojan horses, literally Trojan horse, are among the most widespread and dangerous malware for Net users: here’s how to defend our computers
Trojan horse, or better Trojan horse. With a name like that, you can’t expect anything good. In fact, we’re talking about one of the most widespread hacker attacks on the Web at the moment. Fortunately, there are a number of actions we can take to protect our computer from this virus.
Let’s start from the base. A Trojan is a malware designed to infect the targeted user’s PC to cause deceptive and unwanted activities. Usually, Trojans are used to steal data, but they are also often combined with other viruses to break down the security of a device. Hackers often use this malicious program to gain remote, obviously unauthorized access to a computer, to infect files and damage the system. One of the most famous Trojans is the banking Trojan, used by cyber criminals to steal information about victims’ bank accounts.
Trojan Horse
Why the name Trojan Horse? Because when the virus enters the victim’s PC, it immediately tries to hide, so that it is not detected by antivirus or the user. Detecting a Trojan horse is not easy, also because at a first analysis they may look like normal viruses. Therefore, you need a good anti-spyware to track them down.
How they spread
There are several methods hackers use to spread trojan malware on the web. One of the most used techniques is to attach the malicious code via an email message or on a conversation. Usually cyber criminals use links with similar names to famous pages. This prompts users to open the attachment or click on the link and this way the trojan installs itself and starts acting on the machine. Then there are some malware trojans that use specific vulnerabilities in different web browsers to infect victims. Basically, they are spread through malicious websites that present advertisements and pop-ups with viruses. Even with this technique the user does not realize that he has been infected. Other times, instead, trojans enter a computer thanks to a backdoor. Finally, some trojans infect users’ devices because they are already preinstalled by a hacker inside an application or a document we download.
Problems related to trojans
At this point the classic question of a user worried about his computer security is: what is the risk if I get infected by a trojan? Let’s start by saying that this is malware designed primarily to infect, corrupt or overwrite files. Trojans often format the hard drive to destroy documents on a device. Not only destroy, however, because Trojans are mainly designed to steal information, especially banking information. Trojans, staying hidden, monitor the user’s activities and send screenshots to hackers. Particularly images of our credentials and passwords.
The most famous Trojans
As many techniques are used to infect the victim’s PC, many Trojans have been discovered. Among the most famous ones are Cryptolocker, which is a trojan with the characteristics of ransomware: it encrypts the user’s data and asks for a ransom to release it. It often hides itself as a fake security update and invites the user to install malicious files. Another very famous trojan is the one called ZeroAccess. This malware was generated to steal users’ personal information. There are many versions of this trojan. Finally, the Pandora trojan is also very popular; it is a parasite generated to destroy a machine. Once infected the computer, almost always using chat and messaging apps, Pandora starts deleting files and documents, slows down the connection and eliminates critical programs. Of course, it also installs other malware and disables antivirus software. It is one of the most dangerous Trojans.
How to defend yourself
As mentioned, Trojans are not easy to detect and eliminate. The first essential step is to have an antivirus installed on your PC. Moreover, it is highly inadvisable to remove a Trojan manually, this could only make the situation worse. To increase the security it is advisable to install an anti-spyware program useful to perform a complete analysis of our machine. The advice then, as always, is to be very careful with attachments and links we receive on the Net.