What Do Trojan Creators Look For

  What Do Trojan Creators Look For?

Trojans are written to steal information from other systems and to exercise control over them. Trojans look for the target's personal information and, if found, return it to the Trojan writer (attacker). They can also allow attackers to take full control over a system.

Trojans are not solely used for destructive purposes; they can also be used for spying on someone's machine and accessing private and/or sensitive information.

Trojans are created for the following reasons:

   To steal sensitive information, such as:

• Credit card information, which can be used for domain registration, as well as for shopping.
• Account data such as email passwords, dial-up passwords, and web services passwords. Email addresses also help attackers to spam.
• Important company projects including presentations and work-related papers could be the targets of these attackers, who may be working for rival companies.
• Attackers can use the target's computers for storing archives of illegal materials, such as child pornography. The target can continue to use their computer, and have no idea about the illegal activities for which their computer is being used.
• Attackers can use the target computer as an FTP Server for pirated software.
• Script kiddies may just want to have fun with the target's system. They might plant a Trojan in the system, which then starts acting strangely: the CD tray opens and closes frequently, the mouse functions improperly, etc.
• The compromised system might be used for other illegal purposes, and the target would be held responsible for all illegal activities, if the authorities discover them.

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