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Crouching Trojan, Hidden Malware

by: Joel Walsh

Trojans are not just more dangerous than computer viruses, they're stealthier, too. Find out where they hide.

Minions of an evil master lurk in your hard drive, crouching in your system registry, ready to pounce.

What Is a Trojan?

The word "Trojan" is a mystery to most people, even many who think they know its true meaning. If more people really understood what Trojans are and the risk they pose, there would be fewer Trojans, since fewer people would ever leave their machines vulnerable to them.

A Trojan is malware. Malware is a special kind of software, like spyware, adware, and viruses that no one wants. Yet a Trojan is more dangerous than any other kind of malware. Unlike those other types of malware, Trojans are not mindless flunkies hurled at your computer by their masters. A Trojan is a master that first craftily infiltrates your PC, then unleashes its malware henchman.

What Trojans Do

� Some Trojans may install worms, which are programs that use your computer and internet connection to send out armies of server requests in the hope of shutting a particular website down, or to spread viruses or worms to other computers.

� Other Trojans are thieves, out to steal your computer's processing power and turn it over to their hacker masters, often by setting up a backdoor, a hidden internet connection that allows for outside manipulation of your machine.

� Some thieving Trojans are fraudsters that may go after your financial information by installing keyloggers that record what you type--especially passwords and important banking numbers.

How Do Trojans Hide?

No one thinks they have a Trojan on their computer until it is too late. That's because they do such a good job of blending in.

� Trojans come disguised in innocuous file names, often pretending to be a helper application to software or an essential operating system component.

� Trojans try to avoid calling attention to themselves, and so will often only interfere a little, if at all, with your computer's performance, choosing instead to do their dirty work while your machine is idle. Computers left on and connected to the internet while their owners are asleep or at work or school are favorite targets.

How Do You Remove Trojans?

Removing Trojans can be a can of worms. Here's why you need to proceed with caution:

� Since Trojans can disguise themselves as software your computer actually needs, you could accidentally delete a vital program or system registry entry. In the worst case scenario, you won't be able to restart your computer.

� Many Trojans are trained for survival. When you try to removal them manually, they may simply copy themselves to another directory.

Intimidated? You don't have to be. Rather than trying to defuse a Trojan yourself, why not call in the bomb squad? Good anti-spyware and antivirus software will fight Trojans, too. Just make sure to look for a program that specifically says it fights Trojans. After all, this is no job for amateurs.

About the author:
Joel Walsh writes for about spyware removal: spyware removal [Publish this article on your website! Requirement: live link for above URL/web address w/ link text/anchor text: "spyware removal" OR leave this bracketed message intact.]

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Top 10 Ways To Protect Yourself From Computer Viruses
by: Jim Faller

As more and more people are becoming comfortable using their computers at school, home or in the office it�s only a matter of time before they encounter a computer virus. Here are our top 10 steps to protect you from computer viruses.

Use a high quality anti-virus program. There are many different anti-virus computers programs on the market some of them are better than others. Look to reputable computer magazines or websites for ratings to help you find the one that matches your needs.

Always use your anti-virus software. Make sure your anti-virus software is always turned on and scanning, incoming and outgoing email messages, and any software programs you run.

Keep your antivirus programs up to date. Most programs come with a yearly subscription make sure you take advantage of the updates. More advanced programs allow you to schedule updates or full system scans for �off hours� like 2AM when you aren�t likely to be using your computer.

Keep your computer up to date. From time to time operating systems fall victim to security holes or issue updates. Make sure you check periodically to make sure you are running stable up to date versions of your software.

Backup your data regularly. Most windows computer users keep their documents in the �My documents� folder. This makes it easy to back up all of your important documents. Make weekly or monthly copies to CD or USB drives.

If you use floppy disks or USB drives on public computers like your school computer lab, Kinko�s, or even digital photo printing store make sure you scan them for viruses. Public computers are notorious for not being up to date and properly protected.

Be wary of email attachments. Treat any email attachment as potentially dangerous. Never open attachments from people you weren�t expecting. Also be careful of attachments from people you know but weren�t expecting. Many computer viruses replicate themselves by reading the contacts from an infected computer.

Use text email if possible. While HTML email is prettier and allows you more control over formatting it also can carry computer viruses. If you use text based email the only way to get a virus is by opening an attachment.

Use downloaded freeware and shareware files or software with caution. Try to download them from popular reputable sources that scan the programs before they are uploaded. To make sure you are safe scan the program before you install it on your computer.

Be wary of links in IM or instant messaging software. Don�t accept invitations from people you don�t know and never click a link from someone you don�t trust, they can easily redirect you to another website that will try to install a virus on your computer system.

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