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Article By: Don Swartz MCSE

Stop that Trojan Horse Dead in its Tracks!

No one should ever assume that they are immune from contracting an Internet Trojan Horse - a piece of software that exposes your computer to intruders. This exposure may allow anyone to take control of your machine or to manipulate its resources. You can unknowingly install a Trojan Horse simply by reading email, downloading or installing software, talking in a chat room, or just by visiting a web page. Your computer can even be infected via open file shares while simply logging onto the Internet. Since a Trojan Horse can easily invade via email, one can never be too careful. Although you may have rules about from whom you receive email, does the sender have the same strict policies? Good anti-viral solutions will only solve part of your problems, not all of them.

Once an Internet Trojan has infected your computer, it can email the individual or group that configured it every time you log onto the Internet. It may also provide the hacker(s) with your crrent IP address so they can simply log into your computer immediately, without your knowledge. Trojans are worse than viruses because they give unauthorized hackers unlimited back-door access to your computer - making reading or deleting your files an easy task.

When hackers connect to your machine, they can do so without ever leaving a trace that they have been there! They access home and business computers everyday. Some merely want to play a harmless prank, while others want to destroy or steal anything they can. Losses could include anything from credit card numbers to personal or sensitive business information. But there are ways to protect yourself.

Imagine: it is Saturday night. You are surfing the net, tuned into your favorite calssical music channel you found at a Real Audio site. A piano sings sweetly and just before it reaches a crescendo, A police siren blasts out your cardrums and scares you right out of your pants.

This siren is the audible warning component of a Trojan Horse protection protector called LockDown. It indicates that someone is trying to connect to your machine using the NetBus Trojan Horse. LockDown responds immediately by disconnecting the attempted share. Not only does it save your day, but also provides you with documentation about the attacker. You can send the log text to the offender's ISP for appropriate action.

I found LockDown to be a great investment. This product was easy to install and seems to detect all versions of NetBus as well as Back Orifice (another Trojan Horse). While only some anti-viral packages are waking up to this type of attack, it is a prudent investment to ensure safe Internet surfing now.

You can download a free 10-day trial version of LockDown Millennium from: www.lockdowncorp.com. Should you decide to license this product, the cost is $99. There is also a server installment for business systems. - Don Swartz MCSE