{"id":151174,"date":"2021-04-11T15:54:55","date_gmt":"2021-04-11T22:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/?p=151174"},"modified":"2022-07-17T16:21:16","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T23:21:16","slug":"what-is-a-trojan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/tips-tricks\/what-is-a-trojan\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is a Trojan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may vaguely remember reading Virgil\u2019s epic poem \u201cAeneid\u201d back when you were in school. The story of Odysseus and his cunning plan to hide his <\/span>Greek<\/span> soldiers inside a giant <\/span>wooden horse<\/span> to have the Trojans bring his men inside the <\/span>city of Troy<\/span> is hard to forget!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In some ways, we might even view the <\/span>Greeks<\/span> as the first <\/span>hackers<\/span> in history, as their brilliant deception led directly to the fall of <\/span>Troy<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, <\/span>Trojan malware<\/span> works just like that old <\/span>wooden horse<\/span>: It hides damaging software inside what appears to be benign programs. Then, unsuspecting users are tricked by <\/span>social engineering<\/span> tactics that can lead to an <\/span>infected computer<\/span> or device.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While these <\/span>malicious programs<\/span> aren\u2019t technically <\/span>computer viruses<\/span>, the phrase \u201cTrojan virus\u201d is not uncommon and is often used to refer to <\/span>spyware<\/span> that has detected and manipulated a system\u2019s <\/span>vulnerabilities<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Take heart, however! Unlike the original citizens of <\/span>Troy<\/span>, you can educate yourself on the different <\/span>types of Trojan horse<\/span> and protect your <\/span>account information<\/span> from <\/span>cybercriminals<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read on to find out how to keep your <\/span>computer system<\/span> and <\/span>mobile devices<\/span> free of unwanted \u201cguests\u201d in disguise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trojan: virus or <\/span><\/b>malware<\/span><\/b>?<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n

Although they can be easily confused in everyday lingo, Trojans aren\u2019t actually the same as a worm or a virus. Strictly speaking, a <\/span>computer virus<\/span> works to infect files the same way a biological virus does: by self-replicating at an alarming rate and attaching itself over and over to various new programs.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Worms work in much the same way but don\u2019t require programs to attach to and spread.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also frequently confused with Trojans is potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) and <\/span>adware<\/span>. PUPs are generally part of a software package that has been purchased and that program authors have included as a way to connect users to market affiliates.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Adware<\/span> differs from Trojans in that it doesn\u2019t hide its motives and usually results in little more than some additional programs appearing on your <\/span>hard drive<\/span> that you might not have actively planned for.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do Trojans work?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Thinking back to Virgil\u2019s epic poem \u201cAeneid,\u201d Trojans act like the <\/span>wooden horse<\/span> \u2014 in that they hide all sorts of ways for <\/span>malware<\/span> to be delivered to your <\/span>computer system<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trojans can act as a tool useful in other computer activities, a communication point for <\/span>hackers<\/span> to access information, or as freestanding <\/span>malware<\/span>. Essentially, Trojan attacks are blanket attacks where a <\/span>hacker<\/span> can insert any amount of different threats, from <\/span>spyware<\/span> to <\/span>ransomware<\/span><\/a> and everything in between.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the things that make Trojans so malicious is that they can take so many different paths to your <\/span>sensitive data<\/span>. Here are a few common ways that Trojans can cause problems:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n