Understanding The Trojan Horse Threat

With so many threats to internet security and ways for unscrupulous programmers to steal, modify or control the information that is on your computer, it is important to understand what threats exist and the most effective ways to deal with them.

There are several classes of undesirable programming applications that can be unwittingly installed on your computer and the more information you have about the most common ones, the better able you are to avoid the problems and complications associated by being infected by one of them.

One of the most common threats is known as the Trojan horse. Unlike a virus, which can be self replicating, a Trojan enables unauthorized access to the computer system that it is installed on. This such access can lead to operations such as crashing the computer, creating the blue screen of death and perhaps most malicious of all, electronic money and data theft from the computer users personal files.

Understanding where Trojans come from is an important weapon for protecting your computer from this type of unwanted malware. Trojans gain access to computer systems through seemingly harmless downloads or installation of certain programs. The most common places these access ports can be found are through online gaming sites, drive-by download and e-mail attachments that have been sent out through hacked e-mail addresses so they appear to come from sources known to the recipient.

You can’t be too cautious in making sure that everything you open or install on your computer system is legitimate and contains no malicious programs, but even the most vigilant operator can be fooled by sophisticated programs that by all outer appearances seem harmless. That’s where some important steps that anyone can take come in handy to provide safe operating, among them are these most important steps:

• Run an anti-virus program and keep it updated
• Don’t disable User Access Control in your Windows operating systems
• Be careful when you install software, make sure you carefully read each step of the installation text to only allow installation of programing you want and authorize

By following a few simple cautions, it is easy to keep your computer free from malicious malware and harmful applications that will compromise your private information.

Find out how to stop the trojan horse threat by visiting our website.

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