Questions about trojan horses

18 years ago

1. Can a trojan horse be active and operating on your computer without your even knowing about it?

2. If so, how do you find out if you have a trojan horse?

3. Is it true, as I read somewhere, that an unsuspected trojan horse in your computer can discern your personal data, social security # if used (by counting keystrokes) and transmit this info back to the hacker?

I have Windows xp, Windows Defender, and Trend Micro all installed in my computer. None has identified a trojan horse infection.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

DA_Mccoy
18 years ago
1. Yes!

2. Malware detection software, i.e. Spybot, SuperAntiSpyware, AVG Spyware to name a few. Can be configured to operate at realtime, or as most do configure it to be on-demand.

3. Yes, they are called keyloggers.

DA
zep516
18 years ago
1-Yes

2-A Scan like spybot search & Destroy can be effective to start with I would recommend on line scans next, panda active scan. House Call, Kaspersky, If you think you are infected their is a special tool called SDFIX used by Malware removal folks this tool targets a lot of Trojans. Running a scan called hijackthis will show the Trojan 80% of the time, listed in the 04 Entries... It's a must tool if you think you have something...

3- Depending on the Trojan their capable of anything, some can just be annoying pop ups, some will try and take your personal information and download it to a another site, that's why the firewall is important so when the Trojan gets in the firewall will block it from contacting most of the time. Remember a Trojan is a computer program and can be programmed to do anything like turn all security off...

4- Do you think you have one? And why?
Related Discussions
Question about grass clippings and horse poop
Q
Comments (9)
if you mound grass clippings much more that 3-4 inches high they will generate enough heat to cook what they touch. Same thing with manure. Where there is considerable distance between plants I mulch in place to save time and labor. I've gotten more weeds from horse manure than grass (the hay from the bedding sprouts) but it's easier than a compost pile. This has always worked for me. I don't have the time or space for a compost pile. I use grass clippings a lot around my tomatoes but as a mulch between the plants (about 6 inches from the plant with a smattering closer to it. )
...See More
Help with virus: Trojan Horse Generice 13.JUM
Q
Comments (5)
yes Kathsgrdn always update malwarebytes or any program prior to running the full scan there usually will be new definitions to pick up and running in safe mode is a great idea many times the trojan or malware has processes running that prevent it from being cleaned and in safe mode much less is running. If you need more help just come on back and ask. Also a good idea is to reboot after those scans, many times in fact malwarebytes will say something about clean after reboot.
...See More
SHeur 4. LT Trojan Horse
Q
Comments (2)
zep, Thanks for the response. Both Trojans are in the virus vault. Under the Original Name, it shows N/A. I got a Mutiple Threat Dection earlier from AVG, I clicked on Remove all Unhealed, then it said the action was unsuccesful. Object does not exist or is inaccessible. I ran AVG again, still in the Virus Vault. I ran Malwarebytes and it shows nothing either. Looks like I am good to go. Thanks again, Steve
...See More
Trojan Horse results
Q
Comments (4)
why don't you try running an online scanner and see what results you get, that is not showing us the names or the file paths. Try this online scanner. FREE Online Virus Scan you will need to use Internet Explorer as your browser to run that scan.
...See More
zep516
18 years ago
And this definition:

A simple example of a Trojan horse would be a program named "waterfalls.scr" where its author claims it is a free waterfall screensaver. When run, it instead unloads hidden programs, commands, scripts, or any number of commands with or without the user's knowledge or consent. Malicious Trojan Horse programs are often used to circumvent protection systems in effect creating a vulnerable system to allow unauthorized access to the user's computer. Non-malicious Trojan Horse programs are used for managing systems, deploying software, surveillance, and forensics.
Bob_B
Original Author
18 years ago
You ask, "Do I think I have one?"

I don't know. Everything is working OK as far as I can see. But some time ago a pop-up appeared saying that I had encountered malware and that I should use "Ultimate Cleaner" to get rid of it. The pop-up looked like something from Microsoft, so I assumed it was a good service of the company. I then clicked "OK" for the cleanup. After a moment or two a new window popped up with around a hundred "infections" shown in a log. It suggested that I pay some $29 or so for the "Ultimate Cleaner" which would get rid of the bad stuff. I was immediately suspicious. After a bit of research I learned that Ultimate Cleaner is a malware scam. I don't know if my actions had allowed it into my computer or not, and I have not seen any visible problems.

Second cause for concern: Yesterday, an alert appeared from Trend micro (my anti virus program) warning me of a trojan horse "ht----" something or other from the site I was viewing. I immediately killed the web page I was viewing and ran a scan on TrendMicro antivirus program which showed nothing. I doubt if this second occasion downloaded anything, but I wonder.

RB
zep516
18 years ago
Here's free scan of Superantispyware remove everything it finds. Let us know what it finds, you also may consider House Call by Trend Micro, google House call. House call is a long scan......

SuperAntispy will run on you system when you download it's a good program but know need for it to run if you already have spyware running when your done with stop it from running or un install really no need to have more then 1 spyware program running.

Of course update your own Anti Virus & scan..

Let us know..

Here is a link that might be useful: Superantispyware
zep516
18 years ago
Please check your add/remove programs for "Ultimate Cleaner" if found remove it..
DA_Mccoy
18 years ago
I've been tinkering with AVG Anti-Spyware for the last week or so. I am relying on the reputation of AVG at this time as I have not formed an opinion on its effectiveness. It is user friendly and has regular updates.

I would recommend you do a H/D maintenance as part of this could be cookie generated.

I regularly recommend CCleaner. It is more effective than the on-board Microsoft utility. Just don't change any configuration settings after you install it unless you know what you are doing. I have never heard of a complaint when using the default settings. However, I have when people become aggressive.

DA
susieq07
18 years ago
You need a good AV I use AVG Free also Avast, but you also need to run it through your entire PC...trouble is ppl have them and think that's it, but Noooo! you need to actually have it scan your PC from time to time.
victoria321
18 years ago
That waterfall ad pops up just about everytime I visit this site. What can I do about that?