subject: Backdoor Trojans - Don't Get Caught With Your Security Pulled Down [print this page] Backdoor Trojans - Don't Get Caught With Your Security Pulled Down
A backdoor Trojan is a very good possibility that someone else caught you with your security pulled down.
There is much concern about identity theft today. From uninvited credit card applications stolen from your trash to someone tapping your telephone. Guess what - your computer may be the biggest security leak in your home or office.
In today's Internet era, living without going on-line seems to be like living in a cave. Backdoor Trojans are the most dangerous and most widespread type of Trojan spyware. A Trojan is a small, malicious computer program that is installed on your computer from the Internet without your knowledge or permission.
Named after the Trojan Horse of Greek mythology, the backdoor Trojans operate like a remote control to open up an infected machine by an outsider to spy on you and steal your valuable personal information.
Since the backdoor Trojan acts like legal remote administration programs used by system administrators, they are difficult to detect, especially on company computers. Once the backdoor Trojan virus is launched, it monitors the local system without the user's knowledge; often the backdoor will not be visible in the log of active programs.
That makes your computer wide open to things like:
o Sending/ receiving files
o Launching/ deleting files
o Executing files
o Displaying notification
o Deleting data
o Rebooting the machine
According to Brian Krebs of the Washington Post, online fraud is lurking in social networking sites, like YouTube and MySpace. He writes that more computer users than ever are guarding their systems with anti-virus, firewall and other security software. Internet criminals are focusing on tricking users into opening "backdoors" into their own systems by convincing them to view malicious video or audio content.
These hackers invite unsuspecting people to a Web site that probes security holes in the user's Web browser or media player. Then, the criminals get access to install software to control the user's machine remotely. A real backdoor problem.
In his December 20, 2007 column on cyber security, Mr. Krebs wrote: "In wave after successful wave of attacks throughout 2007, virus writers found ways to stitch malicious videos and images into trusted, high-traffic sites like MySpace.com and YouTube.com. In several incidents, intruders slipped poisoned images into online banner advertisement networks used by a number of major Web sites, including Photobucket.com and social-networking site Bebo.com."
So, if you think that social networking sites are completely safe, think again. User generated content is not always what it appears to be.
Hackers create Backdoor trojans to detect and download confidential information, run harmful software code, and destroy your data. Not only that, your computer can become part of a secret bot network, where outsiders use your system along with many others to store illegal or harmful information.
Fortunately, backdoor Trojans can be detected with modern spyware removal software as well as antivirus programs. There are a number of different variations of the backdoor Trojan, each a little different in how they attack your computer. Just make sure that the spyware removal program that you choose is versatile enough to handle all of them.
Dave Pipitone is an experienced Internet and software user. To read spyware removal software [http://www-backdoor.com/reviews/aback09.html] reviews on how to get rid of Backdoor trojan [http://www-backdoor.com/reviews/aback09.html], visit www-backdoor.com [http://www-backdoor.com/reviews/aback09.html]
