"What's a Trojan Horse?"

           A large portion of the mischief and malice done to personal computers across the Internet is
                     performed through 'RATS', which are Remote Access Trojan programs.

Trojans are small computer programs that install secretly and quietly and contain  malicious payloads. Unlike viruses, they do not replicate themselves. They actually install as half of a two part program. The second part is on the Hacker's computer.

After the installation, an attacker gets almost complete control over your computer through the Remote Access program that the concealed payload dumped in it.

Trojans frequently appear to do something benign or beneficial. They might display a pretty animation or appear to be a utility of some sort. They usually come by e-mail as attached files such as: .avi, .pif, .exe, or sometimes .jpg

                         How do Trojans get on our computers?
 
They get there because we put them there, or allow them to get in. Therefore, it is very important that we exercise caution in where we obtain software.

Never take software from someone you meet in a chat room.  This is the #1 place where people get stuck with Trojans.

Often people are tricked into thinking the program they're getting will do something for them, like help them play a game. More often than not, they plant viruses, worms and Trojan Horse  programs.

                      Do Trojans do destructive things?
 
They do damage to your computer regardless of whether you are connected to the Internet or not. The bottom line is that if a wicked person can get you to run his or her program, it is no longer your computer. They can

    ● make it run your printer even if you don't have a program open,
    ● make your CD tray open and close without your help,
    ● steal passwords,
    ● change your wallpaper selection to a pornographic picture,
    ● examine and make copies of private information you may have
       stored on your computer,
    ● HiJack your browser. 
    ● use your computer to send out damaging  RATs to other computers

These 5 basis steps can go a long way toward keeping you out of trouble:

    ●  Never, ever open anyone's personal floppies unless you scan them first
        in your anti-virus program!
 
    ●  Be fearful of any email messages from addresses (senders) that you
       don't recognize.
  
    ●  Be wary of any programs you download from forums, chat rooms, etc.
 
    ●  Don't install bootlegged copies of someone else's software.
 
    ●  Keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs up to date.

 
        How to remove Trojans parasites from your computer
 
Usually, it's very difficult to repair the damage they cause, however, there are some really fine and very effective Programs available to Home and Small
Business computer users to improve online security and minimize Trojan horse threats. You'll need three.

Many experienced security experts recommend these two to seek out what's already on your computer. Why two? Because there isn't any single one that will find all of the spyware pests. These two have very high ratings -

               Spybot Search and Destroy   and    AdAwareSE

The third recommended program, SpywareBlaster is a little bit different. It doesn't scan for and clean SpyWare, it prevents it from ever being installed to begin with by
 
● obstructing the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser
   hijackers, dialers and other potentially unsafe pests;
 
● blocking spyware/tracking cookies in the Internet Explorer and   
    Mozilla/Firefox web browsers;
 
● restricting the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer.
 
There are other programs, of course. Among them are HijackThis and
cwsshredder which can help identify and remove many variants of the
insidious CoolWebSearch browser hijackers. 
 
                        
                           NEXT► Is your computer Infected?
 
          Learn how to recognize the symptoms of a virus
          Recognize e-mail problems that could be caused by Trojan implanted worms
          Get a FREE Scan of your computer for the Sasser and My Doom worms

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