Viruses and malware are capable of doing significant amounts of harm to your company. The wrong virus in the wrong place could literally stop you from doing business.
One particularly nasty form of a virus is the trojan. So, what is a trojan virus and how do you protect against it? This guide will tell you everything you need to know.
What Is a Trojan Virus?
Trojans are often labeled as a virus, but this isn’t technically correct. A computer virus tries to replicate itself, whereas a trojan does not.
A trojan is named after the story of the trojan horse because it relies on the user to let it into their system.
Trojans will typically disguise themselves as some kind of desirable program, but when you run it it will execute malicious code on your system.
While a trojan can certainly wreak havoc on your computer, the good news is that they’re easy to avoid.
How to Protect Against Trojans
Thankfully, it’s fairly simple to protect yourself against trojans. In order for a trojan to execute itself on your computer, you’ll need to open the file that contains it.
This means that the simplest way to avoid trojans is to only open files from trusted sources.
This means that you should never open any files that are sent to you via email attachment. You should also never open a file from any dubious websites.
Whenever you download files, you should only do so from trusted sites.
Another thing you can do is to install high-quality anti-virus software. If you’re someone who goes to riskier websites, you may want to consider installing a paid antivirus such as Eset Smart Security.
This kind of program will detect that something is a trojan when you try to open it and will prevent the file from executing itself.
Do I Have a Trojan on My Computer?
There are no specific symptoms of having a trojan on your computer. These programs can install various different forms of malware. In some cases, you might notice pop up ads appearing when you use your web browser.
You might also notice extremely poor device performance compared to what you’re used to. You could also notice strange behavior from your computer, such as seeing programs you didn’t install.
How to Remove a Trojan
So, now you know that answer to the question: “what is a trojan virus?”. In most cases, running a virus scan using a good anti-virus program will be enough to remove all traces of a trojan from your computer.
With that said, you’ll find that some trojans are more stubborn than others.
Another way to remove a trojan is to reset your computer back to factory settings. If you don’t have much important data on your system, this is often the easiest and most straightforward way to proceed.
IT Managed Services Can Help
So, now you know the answer to “what is a trojan virus?”. If you want to avoid getting a trojan in the first place, you should consider working with a managed IT services company.
We can install robust anti-virus programs on all your work stations to ensure that even the most clueless users won’t be able to set trojans loose on your network.