Trojan Horse, Greek Myth or Computer Nemesis?

Sometime in our lives we have all heard the term Trojan horse. Exactly what is a Trojan horse? A Trojan horse is a destructive program that Disguises itself as a harmless application. Trojan Horses do not reproduce themselves like viruses, but can be just as destructive. An extremely dangerous type of Trojan is a program that promises to rid your computer of viruses but instead installs viruses into your computer.

Trojans can be tricky. What person hasn't been online and had an advertisement pop up claiming to be able to rid your computer nasty viruses? Even more frightening, you receive an email that claims to be alerting you to a new virus that is a threat to your computer. You are promised by the sender to quickly eradicate, or protect, your computer from viruses if you simply download their "free", attached software into your computer. At first you may be skeptical, but the software looks legitimate and the company sounds reputable. You take them up on their offer and download the software. By doing this, you have just exposed yourself to a possible massive headache and your computer to major problems including up to crashing your system.

Many things can happen, when a Trojan is activated, Some Trojans are more of a nuisance than malicious. Some of the less annoying Trojans may change your desktop settings or add silly desktop icons. The deadlier Trojans can erase or overwrite data on your computer, corrupt files, spread other malware such as viruses, spy on the user of a computer and secretly report data like browsing habits to other people, log keystrokes to steal information such as passwords and credit card numbers, phish for bank account details, which can be used for criminal activities, and install a backdoor into your computer system so that they can come and go as they please.

To increase your odds of not encountering a Trojan, follow these guidelines.

1. Be ever alert
Trojans can infect your computer through rogue websites, instant messaging, and emails with attachments. Do not download anything into your computer unless you are 100 percent sure of who sent it.

2. Make sure that your operating system is always up-to-date. If you are running a Microsoft Windows operating system, this is extremely important.

3. Acquire reliable and reputable anti-virus software. It is also important that you download any updates frequently to catch all new Trojan Horses, viruses, and worms. Make sure that the anti-virus program that you acquire will also scan e-mails and files downloaded through the Internet.

4. Installing a firewall is a must and a very good tool to ward off attacks. A firewall is a system that prevents unauthorized use and access to your computer. A firewall will not eliminate your computer virus problems, but when used along with regular operating system updates and reliable anti-virus software, it provides additional security and protection for your computer.

You cannot be completely guaranteed the security of your computer 100 percent. However, if you consistently following these guidelines, you can continue to improve your computer's security and decrease the possibility of infection by Trojan horses and Viruses.