Trojans - Spyware - Malware - Viruses - There Are Distinctions!

[Guest DasFox]

I've noticed over years the blur between trojans, viruses, worms, spyware/malware etc., where everything is just being spoken as if it's all in the same boat, and it's not. True there are things that blur that distinction today and are a creation of a few things melted into one, that is why the term Malware was coined, to represent malicious software, but there still remains today differences, which for some reason people seem to have forgotten.

Now did you understand what I just said, so you are not confused here? I said there still remains a distinct difference between all of these, but at the same time there are varieties coming out where they are melded into the same pot, so to speak of. So are we clear here now? Good!

Of course with the way things are being coded by the crackers, and I call them a cracker, because, well this is another story, but a true hacker does not cause malicious harm, but then nowadays anyone breaking into something or infecting people is also called a hacker which isn't true, they are 'Crackers'. But again, that's another story, the real story I really want to shed some light on is the truth about all of this code that seems to get rolled into one all of the time.

A real trojan is not a virus and a real virus is not a trojan, and the same can be said for all the others. True spyware also has it's roots into what it really is, and the same for the others too. This would now be like saying spyware is a virus and vice versa, and in the truest form of what these both represent, they are not.

In the beginning when trojans got their start they were known, as a R.A.T., a 'Remote Administrative Tool'. True trojans do still exist today as RATs. Anyone here heard of, know of, or remember Sub7? Well Sub7 is a true trojan, and again true trojans still exist. Now some people have said, and called this only a Backdoor program, true it is a backdoor in, but to only call it this is not correct either, again they are truly known as a R.A.T..

I've been invloved in computing since the internet started, so around 20+ years, and make my living as an IT Tech. I've been here since the beginning of all this malware, and I just wanted to shed some truth on the matter, that if we're going to teach people, then let's teach them the real truths, if we at least know them ourselves and let people know, then we should tell it. Yet over the years everywhere I look I see people talking about all of this incorrectly, because the truth is they don't know either.

So when all of it dies, and there truly only exists one form or another, then let's call it what it is when we are there, but we are not there yet. For now we still have real viruses, real trojans, real worms, real spyware, and then the combination of all of these when they get rolled into each other as 'Malware'.

So please don't go around talking about trojans, virsues, and everything else in the same word, as the same, because the true intentions of all of these are not the same!

Here are three of the most popular trojans:

Sub7:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub7

http://www.sub7legends.com/disclaimerindex.php

NetBus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetBus

Doly Trojan: ( Click links on the site to see pics of it)

http://www.megasecurity.org/trojans/d/doly/Doly_all.html

SecureRoot.com is one site where a big part of the Cracking had some of it's origin: (Most of the links are dead.)

http://www.secureroot.com/category/hacking/trojans

Here's a run down of the original and true intents of these programs in their beginnings. These are just basic simple explainations, because in their roots/beginning this is just what they were known as.

1. Spyware - Spys and collects information.

2. Trojans - Gain access and control a system by means of a cracker operarting a 'Program'. Real trojans are programs, .exe files.

3. Virus - Code that causes you a problem. No matter how big or small the problem was, whatever you can imagine here, that's what viruses do, cause you a problem. Did you catch the first word? 'Code', a virus is code, and going back to #2, a real trojan is a 'Program'.

4. Worms - Not to be confused with a virus, because these function differently, have a different purpose. Yes worms cause a problem like a virus, but the differences, in why they were called worms is because they dig, hide, crawl around, and some even give birth spawning more worms. This is why they were called worms, because they mimic the real thing, carrying out their dirty deeds.

4. Malware - Now the term coined that rolls everything into one as, 'Malicious Software'.

I've hoped you've had fun reading and learning. Now go spread some truth to educate!

PEACE

[IT Expert]

I have been working on a site the is a centralized location of wiki.org definitions of infections and such. Its still a work in progress but feel free to check it out. http://www.pchelperdesk.com this to is a great way to quickly see the true difference between the many infections out there. Most articals came from wiki, and or other related sites.