While the presence of spyware makes it obvious something nefarious was installed on the computer, was anything else installed?

Ugh, of course. After more digging, you find a Trojan Horse. Wow, is there any download link your client didn’t click on?

While similar to Spyware, the Trojan Horse, sometimes just called a “Trojan”, does more than just monitor what’s happening on a system. Trojans are a type of contained, non-replicating malware that disguises itself as legitimate software in order to allow scammers and hackers access to a user’s system.

Just like the Greeks hid inside a giant wooden horse to sneak into the city of Troy, this malware snuck right onto your client’s computer while pretending to be a legitimate antivirus software!

Your Suggestion

• Be wary of disk or computer cleaners as well as unknown antivirus software. Trojan horses often pretend to be trustworthy software in order to convince you to download them onto your machine.