Beware of the Trojan Horse

When a computer starts to run poorly or inefficiently, people would almost always have an assumption that it is caused by a virus. A virus may be a malicious program, but it is not the only malicious program that is capable of damaging the computer. For all you know, the culprit behind your computer’s poor performance is a Trojan horse.

Installing the payload

A Trojan horse installs an application called payload: the program responsible for doing something malicious not only to your email account, but also to your computer system. To prevent you from getting too suspicious of the planned attack, a payload usually disguises itself as a simple onscreen display. Soon after, it will illegally access your accounts and illicitly control your computer: to infect files, to threaten security, and to delete programs.

Damaging the system

The main function of a Trojan horse is simple: to damage the computer system. The kind of damage it does to the computer system, however, varies. The immediate deletion and overwriting of files are very common as well as the unauthorized uploading and downloading of files. Some types of Trojan horse even restart or shut off the computer spontaneously. Other malicious effects of a Trojan horse to your computer system include corrupting files, encrypting files, deactivate firewalls, displaying porn, harvesting addresses, installing backdoors, logging keystrokes, making screenshots, playing music, sending spam, and spreading malware. Its worst effect? It slows down your computer.

Removing the malware

The harmful effects of a Trojan horse, as mentioned earlier, may vary. The manner by which it can be removed, therefore, also varies. Many antivirus software and anti-malware programs are capable of automatically removing a Trojan horse from your system. Some advanced anti-spyware program are also capable of deleting a Trojan horse. If all else fails, then formatting your computer might be the only option.