What are trojan horses?

Trojan horses, otherwise referred to as trojans, are simply programs that pretend to be something else. A common scenario is that a person receives what looks like a perfectly legitimate email, that may even appear to be from a friend or work colleague.

The file may look like a photograph, sound file or even a game. When the user tries to open the file, it often appears that nothing has happened. If they are unlucky, they may just have installed something quite nasty on their hard drive.

It could be a basic file that deletes a handful of system files, or it may be something a little more advanced, that can even allow other people full access to your system and files. If you think it sounds unlikely, think again. This happens every single day, to users all over the world.

What can a trojan horse do to my system?

Right now, you are reading this page sitting at your PC. Imagine that I am sitting right behind you, looking over your shoulder at everything you see and do. As well as watching the web pages that you visit, I can also see the emails you send and receive, the documents you type, and all the files that you are using.

Now imagine that while I do this, I can even explore your hard drive, grab your passwords and private data, use your internet connection, and maybe even take your credit card details. If I really want to, I can even format your hard drive. But why should I? It’s far more useful to remain unseen. All of these are possible with a Trojan on your system.

Why anti-virus software just isn’t enough.

Viruses are a very real and present threat to anyone using a computer, especially if they are online. As a result, most users will nowadays have some form of anti-virus software installed on their system. They’ll also most likely keep it up to date as new viruses appear in the wild.

Many users however are unaware of a very important fact. That there anti-virus software does not necessarily offer full protection against trojans. The reason for this is simple. A virus is a very different thing to a trojan. Software for protecting your system from viruses is not protecting you from the very real threat of trojans.

Who is at risk?

Most computers have some way of connecting with the outside world. If you’re reading this article, then you’re connected to the internet. An internet connection is not a one-way channel, and files and data are being stored on your machine from “outside” even as you read this!

But not all computers are at risks from trojans. If your computer has no modem, is not connected to the internet, is not connected to any form of network, and has no ability to accept files from a floppy drive or CD-ROM, then you are probably not at risk. If your computer can connect to the outside world, whether through the web, email, a network or even through a CD player or floppy drive, then you are at risk.

What can I do to protect myself?

Luckily, help is at hand. The anti-trojan software a-squared Anti-Malware is designed to quickly and simply keep your PC free from trojans and other malware. It does this by first of all scanning your computer’s hard drives. If it finds a trojan, it can be set to remove the offending file/s from your hard drive.

The second and most important part of a-squared Anti-Malware is the background guard. It is able to block new infections with trojans or malware before they can become active. You can also define which programe may do things or not (e.g. open a port or write autorun-entries at the system).

As new Trojans appear on a regular basis, a-squared Anti-Malware also includes free online updates. So your a-squared software will always be kept automatically up to date, ensuring your continued protection.