Trojan Horses What you need to know about

Trojan Horses What you need to know about one of the world’s most dangerous forms of malicious code

A Brief History ► According to legend, the ancient Greeks used a giant horse to defeat the Trojans. It was received as a gift, but inside the horse was the enemy.

Trojan Horses Today ► Trojan Horses, or “Trojans” are a type of computer virus. ► They are hidden behind a façade of an appealing and harmless nature. ► For someone to get a Trojan, they must download a file. This trap may be very easy to fall into, because the file will look good on the surface.

How to get a Trojan Horse

Discussion ► In our movie, an unsuspecting gamer was lured to download the Trojan with the promise of something good. ► If a download seems too good to be true, it might be a Trojan.

Secret and Unseen ► Many Trojan Horses do not make themselves known, and stay hidden on your computer ► From behind the scenes, they can gather data and send it back to their master!

Types of Trojans ► Remote Access Trojans ► Data Sending Trojans ► Destructive Trojans ► Proxy Trojans ► FTP Trojans ► Security Software Disabler Trojans ► Denial of Service Attack Trojans

Remote Access Trojans ► Allows the attacker to gain complete or partial control over a remote computer. ► Often called “RATs. ”

Data Sending Trojans ► Gathers data such as passwords, credit card numbers, etc. ► Can install keyloggers that record all key strokes made. ► Don’t make themselves known, and operate through stealth tactics

Destructive Trojans ► Destroys and deletes all files from a computer ► More like a virus than other types of Trojans

Proxy Trojans ► Allows the attacker to use another computer as a proxy server. ► Illegal activities done by the attacker will be traced back to the victim’s computer, not the attacker’s.

FTP Trojans ► Opens port 21 and allows the attacker access to a computer using File Transfer Protocol

Security Software Disabler Trojans ► Designed to kill security programs, such as antivirus software of firewalls. ► Usually combined with other types of Trojans

Do. S Attack Trojans ► Makes a Denial of Service attack (Ping of Death, Teardrop) that floods your network with useless traffic, crippling it.

Preventing Trojans ► 1. Don’t open e-mails from suspicious sources (ex. i_am_a_virus@pwn. net). ► 2. Change e-mail settings to prevent attachments from opening automatically

Preventing Trojans ► 3. Make sure antivirus and firewall programs are installed on your computer ► 4. Avoid using P 2 P file sharing networks

Preventing Trojans ► Always be very cautious when opening files.

Attack Methods By default, file extensions such as. exe and. bat are hidden by Windows. Attackers take advantage of this by masking files like “readme. txt. exe”. Icons can also be imitated. Trojans will also open the desired program to satisfy the user and avoid suspicion

Attack Methods ► By then, it’s too late to stop the Trojan

Bibliography ► ► ► ► ► Wikipedia (http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing)) Webopedia (http: //www. webopedia. com/TERM/T/Trojan_horse. html) Irchelp. org (http: //www. irchelp. org/irchelp/security/trojan. html) Pantheon. org (http: //www. pantheon. org/articles/t/trojan_horse. html) Searchsecurity. com (http: //searchsecurity. techtarget. com/s. Definition/0, 290660, sid 14_gci 213221, 00. html ) Netlingo. com (http: //www. netlingo. com/lookup. cfm? term=Trojan%20 Horse ) Tech-faq. com (http: //www. tech-faq. com/trojan-horse-virus. shtml) Informit. com (http: //www. informit. com/articles/article. asp? p=102181&rl=1 ) Cnet News. com (http: //news. com/The+future+of+malware+Trojan+horses/21007349_3 -6125453. html) Securityfocus. com (http: //www. securityfocus. com/news/11209)