“Trojan Horse” emails are named after the famous huge wooden horse left by the Greeks outside the city of Troy. When taken inside, at night soldiers climbed out of the inside compartments of the horse and opened the city gates leading to its downfall.
A Trojan horse email is one that looks harmless but contains a malicious hidden payload.
They usually offer the promise of something you might be interested in—an attachment containing a joke, a photograph, or a warning about something apparently important.
When opened, the attachment may do any or all of the following:
- give a hacker access to your files
- install software that records your keystrokes and sends the results to an attacker, allowing a hacker to find your passwords and other confidential information
- install software that monitors your online transactions and activities looking for confidential information
Trojan Horse emails commonly claim to be e-postcards or jokes or something else funny or a news item but they can be anything.
The best practice is to make sure you have up to date anti-virus and anti-malware installed on all computer devices and never click on a link in an email unless you are sure it’s safe.
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