What does a Trojan program do?

A Trojan program is designed to appear as a legitimate or benign application to trick users into executing it on their systems. Once the user unwittingly installs or runs the Trojan, it carries out malicious actions without the user's knowledge. This could include downloading additional malware, stealing personal information, or providing unauthorized access to the user's system to attackers. The key aspect here is the disguise; Trojans typically rely on social engineering to convince users that they are safe, which differentiates them from viruses or worms that self-replicate or immediately display harmful behavior. Understanding this concept is essential for recognizing the risks associated with seemingly harmless software and the importance of cybersecurity measures.