Trojan horse
This is a very general term, referring
to programs that appear desirable, but actually contain something harmful. The
harmful contents could be something simple, for example you may download what
looks like a free game, or a link to a free greeting card but when you run it, it erases every file in that
directory. The Trojan's contents could also be a virus or worm, which then
spread the damage.
Trojans are executable programs, which means that
when you open the file, it will perform some action(s). In Windows, executable
programs have file extensions like "exe", "vbs",
"com", "bat", etc. Some actual trojan filenames include:
"dmsetup.exe" and "LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs" (when there
are multiple extensions, only the last one counts, be sure to unhide your
extensions so that you see it). More information on risky file extensions may be
found at this Microsoft
document.
Trojans can be spread in the guise of literally
ANYTHING people find desirable, such as a free game, movie, song, etc. Victims
typically downloaded the Trojan from a WWW or FTP archive, got it via
peer-to-peer file exchange using IRC/instant messaging/Kazaa etc., or just
carelessly opened some email attachment. Trojans usually do their damage
silently. The first sign of trouble is often when others tell you that you are
attacking them or trying to infect them!
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