What is a Trojan

Understanding Trojans and the Dangers They Pose

If you're a regular computer user, the chances are that you’ve heard the word Trojan used on a frequent basis without fully understanding what it means. Some may understand the meaning of the word without completely understanding the security implications of having a Trojan present on their computer system. A trojan is a type of spyware that poses a great danger to your computer, and the best way to protect yourself is to utilize an anti-spyware software.

Basically, a Trojan is computer program that appears to have one particular function but carries out another malicious function when it is installed or run on a computer. Software of this kind may come as a game or popular software program which you download from somewhere or receive from someone you may or may not know. When such software is installed on your computer, you most likely won't see anything go wrong, your program may install flawlessly and in some cases you might install the program and run it but nothing happens. If it's a Trojan, at first appearance it might seem like nothing devious is going on, but what most computer users are not aware of is the fact that the Trojan usually installs it's malicious components silently, meaning that you're not likely to notice anything out of the ordinary.

The malicious purpose of each Trojan depends on what its creator had in mind. Some Trojan's install annoying adware on your system and you have to cope with annoying unwelcome pop-ups and advertisements each time you try to browse the Internet. In other cases, a Trojan might deploy a virus or a worm which uses immense computer and network resources forcing everything to slow down, generally making your computer or Internet connection difficult to use. While these cases might seem like rather obvious evidence that something bad is going on with your system (and that you should take the necessary steps to remove it), not all Trojans give you any information or indication that they are present. More sinister Trojans may deploy keylogger software which secretly record everything that you do on the Internet and forward these details to people with harmful intent. If you use online banking services, or use of your credit card online, this could put you at serious risk. Such programs could send your financial and private details to someone else who can then empty out your bank accounts or use your identity for malevolent purposes.

Some people think that Trojans specifically affect people who download illegal software or share files on the Internet. While it is true that these sort of people are exposed to an increased level of risk, Trojans can also be distributed through more regular means, likely to affect someone who doesn't even download anything from the Internet. Trojans can be distributed through websites with unknown security problems, and/or programs can be sent through documents such as PDF files or Word documents, which tend to suffer from disclosed and undisclosed vulnerabilities on a frequent basis.

You never know where a Trojan might come from, especially in this networked world where a huge number of devices are connected to the Internet. Even if you disconnect from the Internet, your system could get infected—through shared flash drives for example.

Anti-spyware programs such as Spyware Doctor are essential tools in the battle to protect yourself from the deceptive intents of others and the effects of Trojan software. Spyware Doctor was specifically created to detect, remove, and block all types of spyware and adware threats. The program is recommended by experts the world over for this purpose. Spyware Doctor offers additional benefits such as a 100% money-back guarantee and free customer support available to all users. With Spyware Doctor you are also assured of frequent updates to ensure that you are constantly protected from the spyware software in existence today, and that which might crop up in the future.