Much like the classical Greek story of the Trojan Horse, a Trojan Horse virus (often referred to as simply a Trojan) is hidden within a seemingly benign file waiting to unload itself maliciously onto your computer, and this means that you really need to get rid of trojan virus threats. A trojan is often masked by its author in applications promising benefit such as free screen savers or through even greater deception, programs promising anti-viral protection themselves. Common infection points include email attachments and Person to Person (P2P) networks, where users feel they are downloading safe music, pictures, or game programs only to learn they have unknowingly installed the Trojan.
In addition to disabling, erasing data ,and crashing your system, A Trojan infection may lead to devastating issues that compromise your privacy and identity, such as the disabling of current security software, leaving a door wide open for information phishing programs. Some Trojans compromise your online browser, taking you to sites that resemble actual, legitimate online companies such as banks and mortgage companies, where the user is invited to provide information such as bank account and password information in order to “verify” identity. The most malicious versions of this threat contain screen shot programs and key-stroke logging software that gather information such as passwords and credit card numbers and send them off to be exploited. A Trojan may also have the ability to allow backdoor access to your entire system, allowing groups to directly manipulate and retrieve any information they want whenever you are logged into the internet.
In addition to constantly managing the programs you download and encounter on the web, this threat can best be combated by installing powerful spyware software that monitors and verifies downloaded files for malicious content before you unknowingly open them. These programs have the benefit of having large libraries of known Trojans and are constantly updating their definitions to counter newly developed programs. Use them as front-line protection and to identify and safely remove possible infections already in place. The importance of identity protection is vital in this modern age of information.