What happens if you have a trojan virus on your computer?

Question

What happens when someone gets a trojan virus on their computer? Does it mean that all of their sensitive info is somehow emailed to a criminal? Would the infected family have to change all of their accounts? How can you tell if information was stolen with the virus?

Answer 1

It depends on which Trojan you have.  Some just display a message and other are far more nefarious.  If your anti-virus software indicates which one you have then simply Google it and you should get results from Symantec, McAfee, and other anti-virus vendors that include details of what the Trojan does and how to remove it.

I will tell you that many security experts think that once you have a Trojan infection the best course of action is to wipe the computer clean.  That is because modern Trojans download and install other malicious software, which may download and install other software.  The result is that even if you know the extent of the infection (which you probably don't) it is nearly impossible to remove all infections.  Of course there are those who disagree with this.  I would say that if you are asking this question then you may be better off reloading.  Just make sure to backup all your data first.

Answer 2

it will just slow your computer down

Answer 3

You can't know, but most of the time that's only there if you have a keylogger, not a trojan.

But to be safe, go to http://www.housecall.trendmicro and run a scan with it to remove all the nasties.

Answer 4

Hiya,

Trojans and viruses are different things altogether. You can't tell if any information has already been sent and you can't retrieve it either. Normally, you would only find out when an unusual bank/credit card statement arived.

If you use good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs (and keep them updated) you should be reasonably safe from harm. They mainly focus on PCs that haven't up to date security. Also, change your passwords every now nd then. That way, if your password has been compromised, by the time time they try to use it it's too late.  

The main thing is don't worry, be careful and enjoy the internet.

Answer 5

All h**l breaks loose..

No, really.  It depends on the virus.  You really can't tell if your info was stolen unless all your passwords/information somehow changed, or you go onto your banking information and see transactions posted without your consent.

The sensitive info is processed to the hacker/criminal.  Not good.

The best thing to do is the obvious thing -- get rid of the virus by a scanner.  Then, change ALL passwords on all websites/email addresses, locking him/her out of the places they are stealing from.

  

Answer 6

You're going to get a bunch of answers that may not be all correct.  READ ALL OF THIS >Here is the complete and correct answer:

http://www.ircbeginner.com/opvinfo/troja...

You should be running these two programs at all times to protect your computer from infections:

THESE ARE THE RIGHT ONES:

• Do yourself a favor. Forget the others:

In case someone tells you to reformat, ignore them. They just like to reformat for everything.

The fix for this problem is the following:

Get these two solutions that actually are RELIABLE !!!

AVAST and AD-AWARE.

These tools do an EXCELLENT job, and the "home' versions are FEE to the public.

(The business versions you should purchase)

A.

Avast free Home Edition

Get it here:

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.ht...

And please do a "thorough" scan as soon as you get it downloaded. The user interface is simple. Click the left side, and in the top menu that comes up, select thorough scan.

When it finds a culprit it throws up an alarm, then you DELETE the culprit, (do not quaranteen).

Then allow it to run all of the time, and you will be completely protected. It will "automatically" update itself, also for free.

You only need to renew your registration once a year, also free.

Note: I KNOW of several people who have used AVG and Norton and have gotten a virus anyway.

Don't go with Zone Alarm as it is hoggy and conflicting.

I've tried them all, and have had wonderful results with DEPENDABLE AVAST for the last 5 years.

The corporation I work for uses the Pro version, and has never has an incident. Avast is your answer.

B.

Get free Ad-AWARE spy-removal tool from Lavasoft

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-a...

1. Download, install and run this program weekly or more.

^j^