Erik Serna Business Computers Period 4 Trojan Horses A numerous amount of people depend on using remote access tools every day weather its to monitor other computers, Help people in large classes that cant get personal assistance, or even just for chatting with them. Every day a back door utility, otherwise known as the Trojan horse, infects hundreds if not even thousands of people over the Internet causing little annoyances to major destruction of a computer. Trojans are very helpful utilities usually installed on computers networked on a server. With this installed the administrator can do a wide variety of commands on the other computer such as accessing files, looking at the screen, control the mouse, change the system bios and settings, log keys, and just about anything the other user can do.
Many of these utilities are free and can be found on the Internet but if you want one the more sophisticated and better quality you can purchase them. Big companies or places with several networked computers mostly purchase these products. Although this may seem like a really great idea there is also a dark malicious side to it. These remote administrative utilities have mutated into Backdoor Trojan horses and have cause an enormous amount of damage. These programs are considered viruses my almost every anti virus there is.
When a computer is infected the administrator can just about do anything he want to the infected computer. Many of these people call them selfs hackers when in fact an 8-year-old kid can learn how to use these types of programs in a matter of minutes or hours. How can a kid as young as 8 years old learn this kind of technology you might be wondering. Well its very simple and it goes like this. First the hacker has to download the program off the Internet. Once that is accomplished there are a few things you have to do before you can use it.
In most Trojan applications it comes with a file called a server witch is the file that actually infect your computer and an Edit server file with is used to set up the settings of the server. The first step is to change the name of the file to something else like Mypic.jpg exe so the person downloading the file wont suspect anything if you tell them its a picture. The next step is to set up how the IP (Internet Protocol) address is going to be delivered to you once the file has been executed. There are several ways to do this; Ways to have it sent to you are through e-mail, ICQ page, IRC, Instant message, or through an IP sniffer. Now the methods of infection are next you can choose where and how you want the Trojan to load on your system. If people want to be totally messed up they will click on every single infection method witch includes infecting start up, Binding to windows INI files, registry, and Secret methods.
Now you can choose what kind of icon you want the file to have and then add a fake error message to popup when the file is executed such as File does not work to fool the victim. The server is now complete and ready to be sent to someone. The easiest way to infect someone is through the chatting program ICQ. Its easy to talk to a guy/girl posing as a guy/girl trying to give out your picture and 90% of the time they download it without virus scanning it.
Now that the person is infected you can do anything you want. Its possible to steal passwords, pictures, files, address books from the computer and do things from turning on the web cam to moving the mouse, opening the CD Rom, executing music file, changing the windows colors and themes to deleting anything you want. It seems like there it nothing you can do to stop from getting and infected file off the Internet but there are several ways to protect you. In a recent interview with MSJCS Andre Bachman I asked him a few questions on how to protect yourself, although these are pretty simple questions they are very helpful and can save you a lot of trouble.
Mr. Bachman told me the first and foremost thing to be aware of is if the file has an .exe on it. The next is to have the latest and fully updated anti virus software that can be bought at any computer store. He says if you are infected with a Trojan and the anti virus software cant deal with it is to disconnect from the internet and the network and remove it manually if you cant do this take it to the professionals. The Internet can be dangerous but if you are cautious and are on the look out for bad things then the Internet can be a very essential tool in your life. Bibliography 1.Carey, James t.
The college drug scene Englwood cliffs, Prentice Hall 1968 2.Drugs and sports Article Stewart, Gail. 1998 sports 3.Check, Dan The success and failures of George Bushes war on drugs www.tfy.drugsense.prg/bushwar.htm 4.Tompson, Steven D. The war on drugs: opposing viewpoints Green Haven Press Inc. San Diego Ca.
1998 5. www.hightimes.com Words / Pages : 873 / 24
