Protecting Your Business Server From Malware And Trojans

A Trojan is a particularly insidious little piece of malware that can infiltrate your server by wearing a "cloak" of seemingly legitimate software. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing, many people aren't even aware of the fact that they've been compromised by a Trojan until the malware's jaws are clamped down around their system's throat and mauling the data to death with no resistance.

Trojans Are Not "Viruses"

Before you can make the preemptive strike, you've got to know your enemy first. The first thing to understand is that there is technically no such thing as a "Trojan virus". A virus operates by infecting your regular computer files and then tries to pole vault on over to other computers so that it can trash their systems too. A Trojan, unlike the attention-seeking virus, isn't interested in propagating itself. A Trojan is perfectly fine with operating as a lone wolf and doesn't need any other corrupted files to do the heavy lifting for it. Even though a Trojan horse may not have that same desire to multiply and pass on its filth to as many computers as possible with yours as Patient 0, it can still be just as fatal for your server as virus.

Tackling the Trojan

The Achilles heel of the despicable Trojan invader is the fact that it needs permission. Like a vampire that can only feed if the victim willingly lets them in through the bedroom window, a Trojan horse needs you to give it the green light before it can get busy ruining your day. Professionals, like those at Bedrock IT, offer Ottawa IT support for malware and spam problems. Knowing that the Trojan can't work without your unwitting say-so, the key to avoiding them is to never open any attachment or execute any files unless you know for a fact that they come from a legitimate source. Peer-to-peer downloads are almost always one of the best ways to ensure that you give malware the front door key to your system.

People who produce Trojans are a persistently annoying bunch who constantly update their parasitic malware to adapt to the latest developments in firewall security. A firewall that works today will be an open gate to the malware of tomorrow. In order to combat amorphous Trojan evolution patterns, always keep your software and firewalls up to date. If you can always stay a step ahead of the latest Trojans to have been pushed out as answers to firewalls, brand new and improved Trojans can't squeeze through the holes in old versions.