Before talking about How Trojan Horse Works you must know about the trojan horse so let’s talk about it first:
What Is A Trojan Horse?
A trojan is a type of malicious software used to infect computers. Once installed, it hides within another application, such as a game or utility, and waits for instructions. A typical example is a fake antivirus app that pretends to scan files for viruses, but really just sends information about what programs you use to your cyber criminals.
Trojans come in many forms, including keyloggers, bots, rootkits, adware, ransomware, phishing tools, and others. They can sometimes be found bundled together with legitimate applications, making detection difficult.
Background Of The Trojan Horse
The original story of the Trojan Horse can be found in the works of ancient Greek authors Virgil and Homer. In the story, the Trojans used a giant wooden horse to trick the Greeks into entering their walls during a battle.
There are several elements of the story that makes the term “Trojan horse” an appropriate name for these kinds of cyber attacks:
1. The attackers had been trying to take over the city for 10 years without success.
2. They had tried many different ways to breach the city’s defences.
3. The attack was a complete surprise.
4. The attackers had no intention of letting anyone escape once they got inside.
5. Once inside the city, the attackers killed everyone they could find.
Is Trojan A Virus Or Malware
Viruses and Trojans are both types of malicious software, although they differ in their method of operation. Viruses replicate themselves, while Trojans require human intervention. In addition to being different ways of doing harm, however, Trojans and viruses are similar in several important ways. Both are considered malware and are used to steal information and are designed to do damage to computers.
The term “virus” has been around since the early days of computing, but it wasn’t until 1981 that computer scientist John McRae coined the word “computer virus.” He defined a virus as a program that replicates itself without permission and spreads from host to host.
In 1987, Robert Morris Jr., a security researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, published his paper describing the first known computer worm, called simply “Worm,” which he wrote and distributed via email. The worm spread like a virus, copying itself and sending copies to people who opened infected files.
A few months later, another researcher named Gary Thuerk came up with a better name for the virus—a Trojan. A Trojan is a piece of malicious code that gets installed on a computer without the owner’s knowledge. Once installed, the Trojan sends out spam messages or steals passwords and credit card numbers.
Both viruses and Trojans use the same basic technique to spread—they copy themselves and send copies to others. But there’s a big difference between the way they work. Viruses replicate themselves automatically, whereas Trojans must be manually activated. This makes Trojans harder to detect because they don’t always cause problems. They’re often hidden inside legitimate programs, making it difficult to know when they’ve been installed.
Types of Trojan Horse
Trojan malware takes on various forms and can infect a device via multiple entry points. Here are some examples of Trojan Horse:
Backdoor Trojans
These Trojans create a “virtual backdoor” to a computer allowing hackers remote access or remote control to the device and then they can also do malicious activities on your system.
Mailfinder Trojan
The objective of an email finder Trojan is to gather and steal the stored email addresses from a computer.
Game-thief Trojan
Game-thief trojan is a type of Trojan that is largely aimed at online gamers and the objective of this type of trojan is to steal account information that could also include credit card information.
Ransomware
Ransomware is malicious software that locks you out of your computer and demands money to unlock it.
Spyware
Spyware is software designed to gather information about a target without their knowledge. This includes tracking keystrokes, monitoring web browsing activity, and collecting personal information.
Adware
Adware is software that displays advertisements while you surf the internet.
Banker Trojans
Banker Trojans are typically used to steal money and credit card numbers from online banking customers. Hackers install these Trojans onto infected devices via email attachments, social media posts, and web pages. Once the malware infects the device, it steals login credentials and sends fraudulent transactions to the bank account holder.
SMS Trojan
SMS Trojans attack the messaging services of mobile devices to intercept text messages.
Trojan Downloaders
Trojan Downloaders are commonly used to download malware onto unsuspecting victims’ computers. Attackers often disguise themselves as well-known programs like Adobe Flash Player or Microsoft Office. When a user downloads a file from one of these sites, the Trojan is automatically downloaded along with it as a malicious program.
Trojan Emulators
Trojan Emulators are similar to Trojan Downloaders, except they don’t actually contain malware. Instead, they look like legitimate software applications, making them harder to detect. Some examples of Trojan Emulators include fake antivirus scanners, fake chat apps, fake game clients, etc.
How Do Trojan Horse Work
A Trojan virus is a type of malware that infects devices without the user knowing about it. Once a Trojan is installed, it will remain invisible unless you turn off the infected device. If you do turn off the device, the Trojan will continue to operate behind the scenes.
Unlike computer viruses, a Trojan does not manifest by itself. Instead, it needs a user to perform some action to activate it. For example, if you receive a suspicious email, you must open the attachment before the Trojan can infect your device. Also, a Trojan virus spreads through legitimate-looking emails and attachments. These emails can be sent by friends, family members, colleagues, or even businesses. They look like normal messages and contain attachments such as documents, images, videos, etc. However, once you open the attachment, the malicious code will be executed. You might think that opening the attachment is safe because it came from someone you know, but it actually isn’t. Cybercriminals often send out spam emails that look like they come from known contacts. As soon as you open the attachment, your device will become vulnerable to being hacked.
How Trojan Virus Spread
Trojan viruses spread through legitimate-looking emails, which are spammed to reach as many inboxes as possible. When the email is opened, the malicious attachment will be downloaded onto the device. In addition, a Trojan virus can also be spread via social engineering tactics, which are used by hackers to trick users into installing a malicious app. Hackers disguise themselves as someone else, such as a friend, colleague, or business, and lure victims into clicking on links or downloading apps.
The malicious file could be hidden within banner ads, pop-up ads, or links on websites, which makes it difficult to detect. Because most browsers display banner ads and pop-ups by default, users don’t always notice them. Even if you’re careful enough to avoid clicking on links or downloading applications, you still might end up running malicious software on your device.
In short, a Trojan virus is a type of malware that infects devices while remaining undetected. To make matters worse, there are different types of Trojans. Some Trojans are designed to steal personal information, while others try to damage your device. Below we’ll discuss how Trojans work, what they mainly target, and how to protect yourself against them.
How To Know That Your Computer Is Attacked With Trojan
Trojan viruses are one of the most common types of malicious software. They can infect computers by tricking unsuspecting users into downloading them via email attachments, social media posts, or even websites. Once installed, Trojans can steal sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, banking credentials, and personal photographs. Some Trojans can also allow hackers remote access to a victim’s system, allowing them to take control of it.
Trojan horse programs are sneaky, and if you know what to watch out for, you can detect a Trojan attack and start the cleanup process. If you suspect that your system might be infected, take immediate action to protect yourself.
Common Signs Of A Trojan Attack
Your computer feels sluggish Trojans often install extra malware that works together to use up a lot of processing power. This can make your computer feel slower. For example, one type of Trojan program called Flashback installs itself into memory and uses it to run malicious software without your knowledge. As soon as you reboot your computer, the malware starts running again.
Crashes and freezes Sometimes, trojans can overwhelm your computer and cause frequent crashes or other failures. You might see a warning screen saying something like “Windows has stopped working.” When this happens, you’ll probably want to restart your computer immediately.
The infamous blue screen of death is always a cause for alarm. A blue screen can indicate serious problems with your hard disk drive. In many cases, however, it indicates a problem with a piece of third-party software such as Adobe Reader or Microsoft Office.
If you find yourself staring down a blue screen, don’t panic. There are ways to recover from this situation. First, try turning off unnecessary hardware devices. Then, turn off the antivirus software and spyware protection tools that you’re using. Finally, go to the manufacturer’s website and download the latest version of the software. If you still experience problems, contact the vendor directly.
Examples of Trojan Horse Virus Attacks
Trojan attacks have been responsible for major damage by infecting thousands of computers and stealing user data, such as credit card numbers and bank account information. “Ransomware” is also a term used for this kind of attack.
Well-known examples of Trojans include:
Rakhni Trojan: The rakhni Trojan delivers ransomware, which locks up files and demands payment in exchange for unlocking them, or crypto jacked, which allows attackers to use a device to generate cryptocurrency.
Tiny Banker: This Trojan steals financial details from victims’ machines.
Zeus or Zbot: This Trojan is designed to target financial services and enables hackers who want to build their own Trojan to do so.
It was discovered when it infected about 20 U.S. Banks.
Wiper: Wipers are used to delete any evidence that could lead back to the attacker. They range from simple deletion tools to sophisticated ones that wipe every file on a hard drive and then overwrite the sectors on the disk media. Wipers can even remove bits of code left behind by other viruses.
How To Protect Your Systems From Trojan Horse Viruses
Trojan viruses are one of the most common types of malware out there. They typically enter a computer via email attachments, USB devices, downloads or other methods. Once inside, they look for ways to spread themselves around the system and can also give remote access to hackers. This usually involves making changes to the computer’s settings, installing additional programs, and sometimes even deleting files. If you’re lucky enough to catch it early, you might be able to stop some Trojans before they do too much damage. But once they’ve taken hold, you’ll probably never know what they did unless you perform a full scan of your hard drive.
To protect yourself from Trojan infections, you must always be aware of what is running on your PC. If something seems out of place, it probably is. You should never install anything from an unknown source. Be wary of emails that ask you to download files that seem suspicious. Even if you do not think you are downloading a file, there could still be hidden code within the email attachment that allows hackers to take over your machine. Always scan attachments using a reputable antivirus program. When installing software, make sure that you select only trusted sources. Do not allow third-party apps to run automatically. Finally, keep your operating system up to date. Your security software will help identify threats, but updating your OS on regular basis helps to ensure that your computer is protected against new attacks.