Beware of Greeks bearing gifts: In Virgil’s epic poem, The Aeneid, a clever Greek war strategist named Odysseus devises a plan to get his men inside the walled city of Troy. Instead of destroying or climbing the city’s walls, Odysseus sees another way in: with deception. Trojan soldiers watch as the Greeks appear to sail away, leaving behind a giant wooden horse as a token of surrender. Drunk on victory, the Trojans bring the horse inside their walls, only to discover Odysseus and his men were hidden inside the whole time.
Like its namesake, Trojan horse attacks (or simply “Trojans”) in computing are defined as a type of malware that use deception and social engineering to trick unsuspecting users into running seemingly benign computer programs that hide malicious ulterior motives. While technically they are not computer viruses but rather a separate form of malware, "Trojan horse virus" has become a common way to refer to them.
Like its namesake, Trojan horse attacks (or simply “Trojans”) in computing are defined as a type of malware that use deception and social engineering to trick unsuspecting users into running seemingly benign computer programs that hide malicious ulterior motives. While technically they are not computer viruses but rather a separate form of malware, "Trojan horse virus" has become a common way to refer to them.