Editing Trojan horse (computing) (section)

{{Short description|Type of malware}}{{About|the type of malware|the wooden horse in Greek mythology|Trojan Horse|other uses|Trojan Horse (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Computer hacking}}
In [[computing]], a '''trojan horse''' (or simply '''trojan''';<ref name="Collins2020"/> often capitalized,<ref name="Gregg2015"/> but see below) is a kind of [[malware]] that misleads users as to its true intent by disguising itself as a normal program.

Trojans are generally spread by some form of [[social engineering (security)|social engineering]]. For example, a user may be duped into executing an [[email]] attachment disguised to appear innocuous (e.g., a routine form to be filled in), or into clicking on a fake advertisement on the [[Internet]]. Although their payload can be anything, many modern forms act as a [[backdoor (computing)|backdoor]], contacting a controller who can then have unauthorized access to the affected device.<ref name="Broadcom2013"/> [[Ransomware]] attacks are often carried out using a trojan.

Unlike [[computer virus]]es and [[Computer worm|worms]], trojans generally do not attempt to inject themselves into other files or otherwise propagate themselves.<ref>{{Cite web
   |title = VIRUS-L/comp.virus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) v2.00 (Question B3: What is a Trojan Horse?)
   |url = http://faqs.cs.uu.nl/na-dir/computer-virus/faq.html
   |date = October 9, 1995
   |access-date = September 16, 2019
   |archive-date = August 5, 2020
   |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200805171304/https://faqs.cs.uu.nl/na-dir/computer-virus/faq.html
   |url-status = dead}}</ref>