Trojan horse

<application, security>

(Or just "trojan") A term coined by MIT-hacker-turned-NSA-spook Dan Edwards for a malicious, security-breaking program that is disguised as something benign, such as a directory lister, archiver, game or (in one notorious 1990 case on the Mac) a program to find and destroy viruses! A Trojan horse is similar to a back door.

See also RFC 1135, worm, phage, mockingbird.

[Jargon File]

Last updated: 2008-06-19

Nearby terms:

troglodytetroglodyte modetrojanTrojan horseTROLLtrollTRON

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