Backdoor Trojans: Is This Spyware Robbing Your Social Security Number?
Have you ever had that sinking feeling as you walk to your computer, turn it on and then find out – too late – that someone else has been using it to get your social security number and password to your bank account? 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. Uninvited credit card applications get put into the wastebasket and are stolen from your trash. Your telephone gets tapped. But did you know that your computer may be the biggest security leak in your home or office?
In today’s Internet era, if you go a day without using the Internet you feel like a caveman or a cavewoman living in a cave. backdoor Trojans are the most common, widespread and dangerous type of Trojan spyware to hit the Internet.
A Trojan is a small string of computer code with a malicious computer program that is installed on your computer from the Internet without your knowledge or permission. Trojans are classified as “malware” by computer security specialists.
A backdoor Trojan operates like a remote control in the hands of a hacker that opens up your infected system to spy on you and steal valuable personal information.
In an office environment with a computer network, a backdoor Trojan acts like legal remote administration programs used by system administrators. This makes Trojans 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:
• Sending/ receiving files
• Launching/ deleting files
• Executing files
• Displaying notification
• Deleting data
• Rebooting the machine
According to Brian Krebs of the Washington Post, social networking sites, like YouTube and MySpace are time bombs waiting to explode with malware. He writes that more computer users than ever are guarding their systems with anti-virus, firewall and other security software.
Internet criminals are become more cunning to trick users into opening “backdoors” into their own systems. A simple ad on a movie convinces an unsuspecting person 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, use caution when you visit social networking sites. They are not completely safe. User generated content may be funny, entertaining and even risqué. But, it 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, modern spyware removal software can detect and scour backdoor Trojans from your computer. 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 clean up all of them.
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