What is a backdoor Trojan and what damage can it cause?

As computer technology continues to develop at an overwhelming pace, owners and operators have had to come to terms with loads of new challenges, some of them very positive, yet a few negative and in the extreme. Computer viruses of malicious software (malware) in their various formats are one of them, and it is a challenge that cannot be ignored. While there are some excellent software programs around that will provide all the protection that is necessary. It is important for someone who is online on a regular basis to understand the various viruses that can penetrate their computer and the damage that they can cause.

For a long time, the most common form of virus was known as worm, but recently they have been superseded by the Trojan horse type, which can be even more virulent. Worms tend to be less powerful, yet contain the ability of being able to readily replicate themselves and spread from computer to computer that are unprotected. Trojan horses are, as they sound, a form of fairly sophisticated malware that can be embedded in a computer’s random access memory (RAM) and from there infiltrate files and passwords containing confidential information. While these Trojan horses can lie either dormant or undetected for weeks or months on end, they can do unlimited damage, especially to a computer that contains sensitive information. Trojan horses are usually slipped into a computer through its "backdoor"

Backdoors describes procedures on a computer operating system which allows for automatic updates of various softwares, usually from Microsoft. Hackers lie in wait for automatic uploads, which usually take place on the last Tuesday of the month to surreptitiously slip in a Trojan horse through the back door, is an unlocked communications port in a computer which has been left open to allow such uploads.

Once the Backdoor Trojan is in place, the hacker now has the affected computer at their mercy, and control whatever of the system’s data and functions that they choose. The attacker can do various things like read, delete, edit files as well as tamper with log in information and passwords. The hacker can use the Trojan Horse to access bank accounts and other personal details as well as steal confidential company information in a sophisticated form of business espionage.

Anyone using a computer today apart from the most innocent of reasons such as game play needs to have anti-virus software installed. And the more valuable the information contained on the computer, then the more sophisticated and up to date anti-virus software that can be found should be installed.

This article was sourced from www.mcafee-downloads.co.uk/