Trojan horses on the computer carry none of the mythic qualities of their Greek predecessors but what is a trojan horse?
Trojan horses cripple computers and foster the curse of spam. They're incredibly easy to stumble across and accidentally download. They're easy to kill but your antivirus software needs to be up with the times.
Every month 130,000 Australians search the internet for new screensavers to show instead of cascading Windows or the various other defaults offered by Microsoft.
A recent study by McAfee found that users searching for Brad Pitt screensaver downloads stood a 50% chance of downloading a screensaver acting as a trojan horse which allowed spyware to enter through the backdoor. Last year Paris Hilton topped the list with the eternally plummeting Britney Spears but it is no laughing matter for the antivirus companies entrusted to detect and remove these threats.
Other celebrity searches for ringtones, music downloads, wallpapers, nude pics and photos yielded a very high likelihood of infection. Trojan horses act like their mythic predecessor by appearing innocuous. But underneath the glamorous front they expose security loopholes in your Windows operating system to allow for the download of spyware and other viruses.
As with many other security threats there can be serious implications. While it may run fine for you, control of your computer can be hijacked, allowing it to become part of a network of distributed computers that engage in embezzlement, denial of service attacks and other crimes. Trojans can also lead to data destruction, spam and disabling of security software.
Every month 130,000 Australians search the internet for new screensavers to show instead of cascading Windows or the various other defaults offered by Microsoft.
A recent study by McAfee found that users searching for Brad Pitt screensaver downloads stood a 50% chance of downloading a screensaver acting as a trojan horse which allowed spyware to enter through the backdoor. Last year Paris Hilton topped the list with the eternally plummeting Britney Spears but it is no laughing matter for the antivirus companies entrusted to detect and remove these threats.
Other celebrity searches for ringtones, music downloads, wallpapers, nude pics and photos yielded a very high likelihood of infection. Trojan horses act like their mythic predecessor by appearing innocuous. But underneath the glamorous front they expose security loopholes in your Windows operating system to allow for the download of spyware and other viruses.
As with many other security threats there can be serious implications. While it may run fine for you, control of your computer can be hijacked, allowing it to become part of a network of distributed computers that engage in embezzlement, denial of service attacks and other crimes. Trojans can also lead to data destruction, spam and disabling of security software.
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Norton Antivirus 2009 |
Norton Internet Security 2009 |
Norton 360 |