textfiles/uploads/win_trojans.txt

The Complete Windows Trojans Paper
By Dancho Danchev                            
dancho.danchev@frame4.com
http://www.frame4.com/

Version 1.0
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This paper is a Frame4 Security Systems publication, all rights reserved. You
may (re-)distribute the text as long as the content is not changed in any way
and with this header text intact. If you want to serve this paper on your web
site/FTP/Newsgroup/etc., I encourage you to do so but please do not change it
in any way without the prior permission of the author.

IMPORTANT -- THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. To the maximum
extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall Frame4 Security Systems
be liable for any damages whatsoever, (including, without limitation, damages
for loss of any business profits, business interruption, loss of any business
information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use, or inability to
use any software, and/or procedures outlined in this document, even if Frame4
Security Systems has been advised of the possibility of such damage(s). There
are NO warranties with regard to this information, but the paper may help you
improve your Windows security a lot.

This paper is the property of Frame4 Security Systems, all rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 1999-2002 Frame4 Security Systems -- http://www.frame4.com/
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Author's Notes:

This is the updated version of my paper written a long while ago. During that
time I have seen it on every security/hacking site I came across and I'm glad
you're all placing it in your archives as recommended reading. Now, many more
sections and updates have been added so be sure that you will reading new and
interesting aspects regarding the topic. The paper will answer many questions
people keep asking in general about trojans like "how are attackers infecting
me" and "how to protect from trojans".

If you have any other questions about the topic including ideas, suggestions,
comments, etc., please do not hesitate to express your opinion. If you have a
lot to say on the topic and/or I have missed some aspects then please contact
me and contribute to the next update, and of course full credit will be given
to you and your ideas.
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Table of Contents
-----------------
01.What Is This Paper About              
02.What Is A Trojan Horse                 
03.How Do Trojans Work                           
04.Trojans Variations                
   -Remote Access Trojans
   -Password Sending Trojans
   -Keylogging Trojans 
   -Destructive Trojans
   -Denial Of Service (DoS) Attack Trojans
   -Proxy/Wingate Trojans
   -FTP Trojans
   -Detection Software Killers
05.The Future Of Windows Trojans
06.How Can I Get Infected
   -Via ICQ
   -Via IRC
   -Via Attachments
   -Via Physical Access
   -Via Browser And E-mail Software Bugs
   -Via Netbios(File Sharing)
07.Fake Programs
08.Untrusted Sites And FreeWare Software
09.How Are They Detecting My Internet Presence
10.What Is The Attacker Looking For
11.Intelligence With Trojans
12.Trojan Ports
13.How Do I Know I'm Infected
14.Anti-Virus (AV) Scanners
15.Anti-Trojan Software
16.After You Clean Yourself
17.Online Scanning Services
18.Advice
19.Links Section
20.Final Words
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1.What is this paper about?
  -------------------------

The Complete Trojans Text is a paper about Windows Trojans, how they work,
their variations and, of course, strategies to minimise the risk of infection.

Links to special detection software are included as well as many other topics
never discussed before. This paper is not only intended to be for the average
Internet/Windows user who wants to know how to protect his/her machine from
Trojan Horses or just want to know about their usage, variations, prevention
and future, but will also be interesting for the advanced user, to read
another point of view.

Windows Trojans are just a small aspect of Windows Security but you will soon
realise how dangerous and destructive they could be while reading the paper.


2.What Is A Trojan Horse?
  -----------------------

A Trojan horse is:

- An unauthorised program contained within a legitimate program. This
  unauthorised program performs functions unknown (and probably unwanted) by
  the user.

- A legitimate program that has been altered by the placement of unauthorised
  code within it; this code performs functions unknown (and probably unwanted)
  by the user.

- Any program that appears to perform a desirable and necessary function but
  that (because of unauthorised code within it that is unknown to the user)
  performs functions unknown (and definitely unwanted) by the user. 

The Trojan Horse got its name from the old mythical story about how the
Greeks gave their enemy a huge wooden horse as a gift during the war. The
enemy accepted this gift and they brought it into their kingdom, and during
the night, Greek soldiers crept out of the horse and attacked the city,
completely overcoming it.


3.How Do Trojans Work?
  --------------------
  
Trojans come in two parts, a Client part and a Server part. When the victim
(unknowingly) runs the server on its machine, the attacker will then use the
Client to connect to the Server and start using the trojan. TCP/IP protocol
is the usual protocol type used for communications, but some functions of the
trojans use the UDP protocol as well. When the Server is being run on the
victim's computer, it will (usually) try to hide somewhere on the computer,
start listening on some port(s) for incoming connections from the attacker,
modify the registry and/or use some other autostarting method.

It's necessary for the attacker to know the victim's IP address to connect to
his/her machine. Many trojans have features like mailing the victim's IP, as
well as messaging the attacker via ICQ or IRC. This is used when the victim
has dynamic IP which means every time you connect to the Internet you get a
different IP (most of the dial-up users have this). ADSL users have static
IPs so the infected IP is always known to the attacker and this makes it
considerably easier to connect to your machine.

Most of the trojans use Auto-Starting methods so even when you shut down your
computer they're able to restart and again give the attacker access to your
machine. New auto-starting methods and other tricks are discovered all the
time. The variety starts from "joining" the trojan into some executable file
you use very often like explorer.exe, for example, and goes to the known
methods like modifying the system files or the Windows Registry. System files
are located in the Windows directory and here are short explanations of their
abuse by the attackers:

- Autostart Folder
  The Autostart folder is located in C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\startup
  and as its name suggests, automatically starts everything placed there.
- Win.ini
  Windows system file using load=Trojan.exe and run=Trojan.exe to execute
  the Trojan
- System.ini
  Using Shell=Explorer.exe trojan.exe results in execution of every file
  after Explorer.exe
- Wininit.ini
  Setup-Programs use it mostly; once run, it's being auto-deleted, which is
  very handy for trojans to restart
- Winstart.bat
  Acting as a normal bat file trojan is added as @trojan.exe to hide its
  execution from the user
- Autoexec.bat
  It's a DOS auto-starting file and it's used as auto-starting method like
  this -> c:\Trojan.exe
- Config.sys
  Could also be used as an auto-starting method for trojans
- Explorer Startup
  Is an auto-starting method for Windows95, 98, ME and if c:\explorer.exe
  exists, it will be started instead of the usual c:\Windows\Explorer.exe,
  which is the common path to the file.

Registry is often used in various auto-starting methods. Here are some known
ways:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"Info"="c:\directory\Trojan.exe" 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce] 
"Info"="c:\directory\Trojan.exe"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
"Info"="c:\directory\Trojan.exe"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce]
"Info="c:\directory\Trojan.exe" 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"Info"="c:\directory\Trojan.exe" 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
"Info"="c:\directory\Trojan.exe"

- Registry Shell Open

  [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\exefile\shell\open\command]

  A key with the value "%1 %*" should be placed there and if there is some
  executable file placed there, it will be executed each time you open a
  binary file. It's used like this: trojan.exe "%1 %*"; this would restart
  the trojan.

- ICQ Net Detect Method

  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mirabilis\ICQ\Agent\Apps\]

  This key includes all the files that will be executed if ICQ detects Internet
  connection. As you can understand,this feature of ICQ is very handy but it's
  frequently abused by attackers as well.

- ActiveX Component

  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\KeyName]
  StubPath=C:\directory\Trojan.exe

These are the most common Auto-Starting methods using Windows system files, and
the Windows registry.


4.Trojans Variations
  ------------------

There are so many variations out there, it will be hard to list and describe
each and every one of them, but most are a combination of all the trojan
features you will read about below, or have many other functions still not,
and probably will never be known to the public.

Remote Access Trojans

These are probably the most publicly used trojans,just because they give the
attackers the power to do more things on the victim's machine than the victim
itself, while standing in front of the machine. Most of these trojans are
often a combination of the other variations you'll read below. The idea of
these trojans is to give the attacker a COMPLETE access to someone's machine,
and therefore access to files, private conversations, accounting data, etc.

Password Sending Trojans

The purpose of these trojans is to rip all the cached passwords and also look
for other passwords you're entering then send them to a specific mail address,
without the user noticing anything. Passwords for ICQ, IRC, FTP, HTTP or any
other application that require a user to enter a login+password are being sent
back to the attacker's e-mail address, which in most cases is located at some
free web based e-mail provider. Most of them do not restart when Windows is
loaded, as the idea is to gather as much info about the victim's machine as
passwords, mIRC logs, ICQ conversations and mail them; but it depends on the
needs of the attacker and the specific situation.

Keyloggers

These trojans are very simple.The only one thing they do is to log the
keystrokes of the victim and then let the attacker search for passwords or
other sensitive data in the log file. Most of them come with two functions
like online and offline recording. Of course they could be configured to
send the log file to a specific e-mail address on a daily basis.

Destructive

The only function of these trojans is to destroy and delete files. This makes
them very simple and easy to use. They can automatically delete all your core
system files (for example: .dll, .ini or .exe files, possibly others) on your
machine. The trojan is being activated by the attacker or sometimes works like
a logic bomb and starts on a specific day and at specific hour.

Denial Of Service (DoS) Attack Trojans

These trojans are getting very popular these days, giving the attacker power
to start DDoS if having enough victims of course. The main idea is that if you
have 200 ADSL users infected and start attacking the victim simultaneously,
this will generate a LOT of traffic (more then the victim's bandwidth, in most
cases) and its the access to the Internet will be shut down. WinTrinoo is a
DDoS tool that has become really popular recently, and if the attacker has
infected many ADSL users, major Internet sites could be shut down as a result,
as we've seen it happen in the past few months.

Another variation of a DoS trojan is the mail-bomb trojan, whose main aim is
to infect as many machines as possible and simultaneously attack specific
e-mail address/addresses with random subjects and contents which cannot be
filtered.

Proxy/Wingate Trojans

Interesting feature implemented in many trojans is turning the victim's
computer into a proxy/wingate server available to the whole world or to the
attacker only. It's used for anonymous Telnet, ICQ, IRC, etc., and also to
register domains with stolen credit cards and for many other illegal
activities. This gives the attacker complete anonymity and the chance to do
everything from YOUR computer and if he/she gets caught the trace leads back
to you.

FTP Trojans

These trojans are probably the most simple ones and are kind of outdated as
the only thing they do is to open port 21(the port for FTP transfers) and
let EVERYONE connect to your machine or just the attacker. Newer versions
are password protected so only the one that infected you may connect to your
computer.

Software Detection Killers

There are such functionalities built into some trojans, but there are also
separate programs that will kill ZoneAlarm, Norton Anti-Virus and many other
(popular anti-virus/firewall) programs, that protect your machine. When they
are disabled, the attacker will have full access to your machine, to perform
some illegal activity, use your computer to attack others and often disappear.
Even though you may notice that these programs are not working or functioning
properly, it will take you some time to remove the trojan, install the new
software, configure it and get back online with some sense of security.

I would like you to look at a list created by SnakeByte (nice work dude!):

http://www.snake-basket.de/e/AV.txt

Check it out and you will get my point how easily these programs could be
disabled. It's a list of Anti-Virus detection software with its Window Names,
associated files and many more things that attackers found as a way to disable
certain protection software. I've seen only several anti-trojan packages that
let the user specify another location of the program (installation) files,
different from the default one, also Window names and many other features that
will make it harder for the attacker to disable the software.


5.The Future Of Windows Trojans
  -----------------------------

Windows users will always be targets of malicious attackers because most of
them don't know the real meaning of the word security, and think that some
firewall is the only solution they need for protection but they actually don't
have a clue how it works, or how to configure it properly. Windows Trojans
will be a big security problem in the future and I'm sure attackers realise
that, and many more unique functions will be implemented into their trojans
but will mostly be used for the attacker's private purposes. Programmable or
scriptable "automated hacking" functions will be used to solve various
attacker's problems starting from anonymous port scanning and going up to
Distributed Denial Of Service Attacks(DDoS). A recommended resource related to
the subject is

http://staff.washington.edu/dittrich/misc/ddos/

How about distributed cracking of password files like on all of these contests
around the world but in that case a network created by attacker/attackers for
their own purposes? Has anyone ever thought of "spamming" function, built into
trojans, similar to all of these spam programs out there, crawling around the
Internet, searching for e-mails? And these are just small examples, but trust
me, there are much more advanced features, built into Windows Trojans, that
probably will never be released to the public.

At this year's Defcon the security company SensePost made a demonstration with
a trojan, called Setiri, bypassing all the firewalls and IDS's giving access
to the attacker even the machine was in a restricted environment. More info is
available at:

http://www.computercops.biz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1321


6.How Can I Get Infected?
  -----------------------

A lot of people out there can't differ various ways of infection just because
in their minds the only way of getting infected is by downloading and running
server.exe and they will never do it as they say. As you'll read here, there
are many more ways for malicious attackers to infect your machine and start
using it for illegal activities. Please take all of these topics I'm reviewing
here really seriously; read them carefully and remember that prevention is way
better than the cure!

6.1 ICQ
6.2 IRC
6.3 Attachments
6.4 Physical Access
6.5 Browser And E-mail Software Bugs
6.6 Netbios(FileSharing)

6.1 Via ICQ

People don't understand that they can also get infected while talking via ICQ
or any other Instant Messenger Application. It's all risky when it's about
receiving files no matter from who, and no matter from where.

Believe it or not, there are still guys out there, using really old versions
of ICQ and it's all because they can see the IP of the person they're talking
to. The older versions of ICQ had such functionality and it was useful for
everyone capable of using winnuke and other DoS tools, but really how hard it
is to click with the mouse? These people are often potential victims of
someone that is more knowledgeable on Windows Trojans and takes advantage of
their old ICQ versions.

Let's review various ways of getting infected via ICQ:

- You can never be 100% sure who's on the other side of the computer at the
  particular moment. It could be someone that hacked your friend's ICQ UIN
  (Unique Identification Number)and wants to spread some trojans over his/her
  friends. You'll definitely trust your best dude Bob if he offers you
  something interesting, but is it really Bob on the other side?

- Old versions of ICQ had bugs in the WebServer feature, that creates a site
  on your computer, with your info from the ICQ database. The bug consists in
  that the attacker can have access to EVERY file on your machine and if you
  read the previous sections carefully and know the auto-start methods, you'll
  probably realise what could happen if someone has access to your win.ini or
  other system file, namely a trojan installed in a few minutes.

- Trojan.exe is renamed like Trojan....(150 spaces).txt.exe, icon changed to a
  real .txt file and this will definitely get you infected. This bug must be
  fixed in the newer versions for sure.

No matter which Instant Messenger Application you're using, you could always
get yourself infected by certain program bug you never had the chance to hear
about, and never took care of checking for newer versions of the application,
also when it's about receiving files no matter where, and no matter from who,
take that very seriously and realise the dangers of your naivety.

6.2 Via IRC

So many people LIVE on IRC and this is another place where you can get
yourself infected. Trust is vital no matter what you're doing. No matter who
is sending you files, pretending to be free porn archive, software for "free
internet", hacking Hotmail program, DO NOT get any of these files. Newbies are
often targets of these fakes, and believe me, many people are still newbies
about their security. Users get infected from porn-trade channels, and, of
course, warez channels, as they don't think about the risk, but how to get
free porn and free programs instead.

Here are several scenarios of you getting infected while using IRC:

- You're talking with someone, a "girl" probably, have great time and, of
  course, you want to see the person you're talking to. You ask for a picture
  or the "girl" offers you her pictures and I'm sure you'll definitely want to
  see them. The "girl" says that she has just created her first screensaver,
  using some known free or commercial software to do this, and offers it to
  you, but how about if "she" mentions several pictures are naked ones?! You
  have been talking to "her" for a week or so, you get this screensaver.exe,
  you run it and, yeah, VERY nice pics, some are naked and she didn't lie to
  you so nothing bad or suspicious has happened BUT think again what really
  has happened!
  
- Trojan.exe could also be renamed into Trojan.scr like a screensaver
  extension and will again run properly when you execute it so pay attention
  about these file extensions.

- Trojan.exe is being renamed like Trojan....(150 spaces).txt.exe you'll get
  the file over IRC in the DCC it will appear as .TXT and you won't get
  worried about anything, run it and get yourself infected again. In all of
  these examples the icon of the file is changed, of course, because it needs
  to be the same icon as a normal .TXT and this fools victims very often.

Most people don't notice in their Explorer that the Type of the file is
Application BUT with a .TXT icon. So BEFORE you run something, even if it's
with a .TXT icon, check its extension and make sure it's really a text file.

6.3 Via Attachments

I'm always amazed how many people got themselves infected by an attachment,
sent into their mailboxes. Most of these users are new to the Internet and are
pretty naive. When they receive a mail,containing an attachment, saying they
will get free porn, free Internet access etc., they run it without completely
understanding the risks for their machines. Check the following scenario: you
know your friend Alex is a very skilled Visual Basic programmer. You also know
he's coding his latest program but you're curious what it is all about, and
you wait for an e-mail from him with the attachment when he finishes coding
the application. Yeah, but the person targeting YOU also knows that. The
attacker also knows your friend's e-mail address. Then the attacker will
simply code some program or get some freeware one, use some relaying mail
server to fake the e-mail's FROM field and make it look like your friend's
one; Alex's e-mail address is alex@example.com so the attacker's FROM field
will be changed to alex@example.com and, of course, it will include the
TROJANED attachment... You'll check your mail, see that Alex finally got his
program ready and sent it, you'll download and run it without thinking that it
might be a trojan or something else, because, hey, Alex wouldn't do something
like that to me, he's my friend, and you'll get yourself infected.

Information Is Power! Just because the attacker knew you were waiting for some
particular file, he found Alex's e-mail address and got you infected... the
right moment assumes importance here. And it all happened just because you
were naive, just because you saw alex@example.com in the FROM field, and just
because you didn't check the mail headers to see that the mail came from some
.jp mail server relaying e-mails and, has been used from spammers for several
months.

Many people got themselves infected by the famous "Microsoft Internet Explorer
Update" sent directly to their mailboxes, by the nonexistent Microsoft Updates
Staff. I understand you felt great because Microsoft are paying attention
especially to you, and sent you the latest updates, but these "updates" are
definitely trojans. Microsoft will NEVER send you updates of their software
via e-mail no matter you see the FROM field is updates@microsoft.com and as
you've noticed in the previous example the FROM field could and IS faked. If
you ever notice some mail in your mailbox with subjects like "Microsoft IE
Update" and such, delete WITHOUT viewing or reading the e-mail, because some
E-Mail clients like Outlook Express and others, have bugs that automatically
execute the file being attached in the e-mail WITHOUT you even touching it. As
you can imagine this is a extremely dangerous problem that requires you to be
always up to date with the latest version of any software you're using.

6.4 Physical Access

Physical access is vital for your computer's security. Imagine what can an
attacker do while having physical access on your machine, and let's not
mention if you're always connected to the Internet and leave the room for
several minutes... long enough to get you infected. Here I'll point you
several scenarios, often used by attackers to infect your computer while
they're having physical access to your machine. There are some very smart
people out there that keep thinking of new ways of getting physical access
to someone's computer. Here are some tricks that are interesting:

- Your "friend" wants to infect you with a trojan and he/she has physical
  access to your machine. Let's say you were at home surfing the net,
  chatting or whatever. Suddenly your "friend" asks you for a glass of
  water, knowing that you'll go in another room and will be away for 1 or
  2 minutes. While you do that he/she takes out a diskette of the pocket
  and infects your unprotected PC. You came back and everything is OK
  because your "friend" is doing exactly the same thing before you left
  ...surfing the net.

- The next example is when 2 guys want to take revenge on you cause of
  something and are supporting each other to accomplish the task. Again you
  are at home with your "friend", surfing, chatting, whatever you're doing;
  suddenly the telephone rings and a "friend" of yours wants to speak with
  you for something that is really important. He/she (it's better to be she
  in this case) asks "Is there anyone around you? If so,please move somewhere
  away from him/her(after knowing it is him or her,of course). I don't want
  anyone to listen what I'm going to tell you". The victim is again lured away
  from the computer, leaving the attacker to do whatever he/she wants on the
  target computer.

- Other approaches like the previous ones might be sudden ring on the bell, as
  well as other variations of phone calls and conversations leaving the
  attacker alone with the victim's computer. There are so many other possible
  approaches; just think for a while and you'll see what I mean and how easily
  you could be tricked, and it's because you're not suspicious enough when it
  is about your sensitive computer data.

- Another way of infecting while having physical access is the Auto-Starting
  CD function. You've probably noticed that when you place a CD in your CDROM,
  it automatically starts with some setup interface; here's an example of the
  Autorun.inf file that is placed on such CD's:

  [autorun]
  open=setup.exe
  icon=setup.exe

  So you can imagine that while running the real setup program a trojan could
  be run VERY easily, and as most of you probably don't know about this CD
  function they will get infected and won't understand what happened and how
  it's been done. Yeah, I know it's convenient to have the setup.exe autostart
  but security is what really matters here, that's why you should turn off the
  Auto-Start functionality by doing the following:
  
  Start Button->Settings->Control Panel->
                                 System->
                                 Device Manager->CDROM->Properties->Settings
                                 
  and there you'll see a reference to Auto Insert Notification. Turn it off
  and you won't have any problems with that function anymore.

I know MANY other variations of physical access infections but these are the
most common ones so pay attention and try to make up several more by yourself.

When the victim IS connected to the Internet:

Here we have many variations; again, I'll mention the most common ones. While
the attacker is having physical access he/she may download the trojan.exe, 
using various ways just by knowing how various Internet protocols work.

- A special IRCbot known only to the attacker is staying in IRC with the only
  function to DCC the trojan.exe back to the attacker whenever he/she messages
  the bot with a special command. The victim will probably be away from the
  computer.
- The attacker wants to download some specific software like new version of
  some programs infected with trojan(s), of course, and visit some URL, known
  to him/her only, and download the trojan.
- The attacker pretends he/she wants to check his/her (web based) mail (for
  example, at Yahoo! or HotMail) but in fact has the trojan.exe stored in his/
  her mailbox and just downloads and executes the file, hereby infecting the
  computer. The mail service is used as a storage area, in this case.

There are many more ways of infecting the victim while connected to the Net,
as you can imagine. Any of these examples will succeed but it all depends on
the victim's knowledge of the Internet and how advanced his/her skills are,
so the attacker needs to check these things somehow before doing any of these
activities I pointed here. After that, the attacker will be able to choose
the best variant for infecting the victim and doing the job.

6.5 Browser And E-mail Software Bugs

Users do not update their software versions as often as they should be, and a
lot of the attackers are taking advantage of this well known fact. Imagine you
are using an old version of Internet Explorer and you visit a (malicious) site
that will check and automatically infect your machine without you downloading
or executing any programs. The same scenario goes when you check your E-mail
with Outlook Express or some other software with well known problems, again
you will be infected without downloading the attachment. Make sure you always
have the latest version of your Browser and E-mail Software, and reduce the
ways of these variations to minimum. Here are some links about Browser and
E-mail Software bugs, check them out and understand how dangerous these bugs
are, and it's all because of you using an old version of the software.

http://www.guninski.com/browsers.html
http://www.guninski.com/netscape.html

6.6 Netbios(File Sharing)

If port 139 on your machine is opened,you're probably sharing files and this
is another way for someone to access your machine, install trojan.exe and
modify some system file, so it will run the next time you restart your PC.
Sometimes the attacker may use DoS(Denial Of Service Attack) to shut down
your machine and force you to reboot, so the trojan can restart itself
immediately. To block file sharing in WinME version, go to:

Start->Settings->Control Panel->Network->File And Print Sharing

and uncheck the boxes there. That way you won't have any problems related to
Netbios abuse.


7.Fake Programs
  -------------

Imagine a Freeware SimpleMail program that's very suitable for your needs, and
very handy with its features like address book, option to check several POP3
accounts and many other functions that make it even better then your E-mail
client and the best thing for you is that it's free. You use ZoneAlarm or any
other similar protection software, and mark the program as a TRUSTED Internet
server so none of your programs will ever bother you about that program as you
are using it probably every day because it's working very well, no problems
ever occurred, you're happy, but a lot of things are going in the background.
Every mail you send and all your passwords for the POP3 accounts are being
mailed directly into the attacker's mailbox without you noticing anything.
Cached passwords and your keystrokes could be also mailed and the idea here is
to gather as much info as possible and send it to the attacker. This info
includes credit card numbers, passwords for various applications and many
other things.

In some cases the attacker may have complete access to your machine but it
depends on his/her ideas about the hidden program's functions. When sending
e-mails and using port 25 or 110 for POP3, these could be used for connections
from the attacker's machine (not at home, of course, but again from another
hacked one) to connect and use the hidden functions he/she implemented in the
Freeware SimpleMail. The attacker's idea here is to offer you a program that
requires a connection to be established with some server; let's say at the top
of the SimpleMail there's a banner that's auto-refreshing every few minutes,
because the programmer "needs to pay the bills too" as he said in the About
section, so nothing seems suspicious to you as it's a normal thing, and your
logical conclusion is completely right as the only way for that guy to keep
offering this cool freeware program for free is to use banners. You've already
marked the program as TRUSTED so the attacker can have complete access to your
machine because he/she fooled you into thinking it's a TRUSTED program. Even
if you notice some connection to your machine on some strange port, you won't
consider this as a suspicions event, as the banners section needs to get these
banners from somewhere, and this is the place your machine is connected all
the time to keep them refreshing.

The only thing the attacker needs is creativity, and most of them do have it.
Think of a fake AudioGalaxy (software for mp3's sharing) but, of course, with
a different name. The attacker would create it, will free 15GB disk space on
his machine and place a large archive of mp3's...then, of course, the same
will be done on several other machines to fool you that you are downloading
from other people located all over the world, but it's not necessary as the
program's interface may never show you where you're actually downloading the
mp3's from. The software will again be backdoored as in the previous example,
and will get thousands of naive users, probably using ADSL connections,
infected.

Fake programs that have hidden functions, often have professional looking web
sites, links to various anti-trojan software mentioned as affiliates, and make
you trust the site; readme.txt is included in the setup and many other things
to fool you it's a trusted one. Pay attention to freeware tools you download,
consider them extremely dangerous and a very useful and easy way for attackers
to infect your machine with a Trojan.

8.Untrusted Sites And Freeware Software
  -------------------------------------

A site located at some free web space provider or just offering some programs
for illegal activities can be considered as untrusted one. As you know, there
are thousands of "hacking/security" archives on these free web space providers
like Xoom, Tripod, Geocities and many many others. These sites have archives
full with "hacking" programs, scanners, mail-bombers, flooders and many other
tools. Often several, if not all of these programs are infected by the guy who
created the site. It's highly risky to download any of the programs and the
tools located on such untrusted sites; no matter which software you use are,
you ready to take the risk? There are some untrusted sites, looking REALLY
professional and having huge archives, full with Internet related software,
feedback form, links to other popular sites. I think if you take some time,
look deeper, scan all the files you download you can decide on your own
whether the site you are downloading your software from is a trusted or an
untrusted one.

Software like mIRC, ICQ, PGP or any other popular software MUST be downloaded
from its original (or official dedicated mirror site) and not from any of
these I told you about. Sometimes such sites claim there's a new version of,
let's say, mIRC 7.0, and you know your current version is 6.0 and, yeah, it's
handy to click on the URL and download the .exe in 1 minute and take advantage
of the latest version, but will definitely get yourself infected. A possible
variation of this method will again be claiming for a new version, BUT the
site would include info on nonexistent security bugs, found in the previous
one (which is of course the latest you have), and again it is handy for you to
download it, instead of visiting mIRC's main site, and see if there is really
an updated version or check for any of these security bugs you've read about
on the fake site.

Webmasters of well known Security Portals, that have HUGE archive with various
"hacking" programs, should be responsible for the files they provide and OFTEN
scan them with Anti-Virus and Anti-Trojan software to guarantee their visitors
download "free of trojans and viruses". A known method is that attackers send
some program created by them, let's say a UDP flooder, to the webmaster like a
submission for the archive, but infect the program with some trojan and later
have visitors downloading the program and getting themselves infected. Some
attackers may use the webmaster's irresponsibility and infect their files, and
have the site distribute the trojan. I know of another story regarding this
problem. It's about a Gaming Magazine that used to include a CD with free demo
versions of the latest games in each new edition. The editors made a contest
to find new talents and give the people programming games the chance to
popularise their productions by sending them to the Editors. An attacker
infected his game with a new and private trojan and sent it to the Magazine.
In the next edition the "game" appeared on the CD and you can imagine the
chaos that set in. And it's all because of the Editors, having not so much
knowledge on the topic and as I've told you, in the old days Anti-Virus
software were detecting only a small part of the public trojans (and what
about all the private ones). In this particular case they were using only an
Anti Virus scanner to protect their readers from such attacks. Webmasters and
everyone having some sort of software archive on his/her portal, MUST scan it
very often, and before adding a new file it should be well examined; if it's
suspicious in any way, it must be sent to your software detection labs for
further analysis. Do care about your visitors/readers if you want them to care
about you.

Freeware programs could be considered suspicious and extremely dangerous, due
to the fact that it's a very easy and useful way for the attacker to infect
your machine with some freeware program. No matter how suitable you find the
program, remember that "free is not always the best" and it's very risky to
use any of these programs. My advice is: before using Freeware program, do
search for some reviews on it, check popular search engines, and try to look
up for some info about it. If you find any reviews written by respected sites,
that means they've used and tested it and the chance of infection is hereby,
minimised. If no reviews or comments about the software are found via the
search engines, then it may be highly risky to start using it.


9.How Are They Detecting My Internet Presence?
  --------------------------------------------

People new to the Internet often ask this question as they can't understand
why someone will want to attack especially them, because they never did any
harm to anyone and never did something that might get them into trouble.
While reading the previous sections, I hope you understood that sometimes
you only need to visit a web site with your unpatched browser and get yourself
infected.

I will explain several scenarios on how attackers may discover your Internet
presence:
 
- When visiting a web page,the attacker might have created a script that will
  automatically check your Browser for known bugs, and if any are detected,
  install a trojan on your machine or notify the attacker to have a deeper
  look. Make sure you're always using the latest version of your Browser for
  maximal protection. Check for (security) patches and apply these often!
- When joining an IRC channel, an IRC bot might be configured to scan everyone
  joining for specific trojan ports opened or FileSharing (Netbios) enabled.
  If the attacker is smart, the script will scan you several minutes after you
  join the channel and, of course, use an IP number not belonging to anyone in
  the channel.
- Attackers often attempt IP blocks scanning, looking default trojan ports and
  of course FileSharing(Netbios). After infection, your machine could also be
  used for such scans, as well as an IRC bot, scanning those joining some big
  and full with people IRC channel.

These are some of the most common ways attackers use to search for new victims,
suitable for their illegal activities. If someone is targeting especially you,
the attacker won't be using any of these methods I reviewed above; instead your
Browser version will be found as well as the Operation System you're using, and
the attacker will make a personal contact with you via IRC, ICQ, etc., and fool
you somehow and get you infected.


10.What Is The Attacker Looking For?
   ---------------------------------

Some of you may think that trojans are used for damages only. Well, they can
also be used for spying on someone's machine and taking a lot of private and
sensitive information (industrial espionage). The attacker's interests would
include but are not limited to the following:

- Credit Card Information (often used for domain registration, shopping with
  your credit card)
- Any accounting data (E-mail passwords, Dial-Up passwords, WebServices
  passwords, etc.)
- Email Addresses (Might be used for spamming, as explained above)
- Work Projects (Steal your presentations and work related papers)
- Children's names/pictures, Ages (pedophile attacker?!)
- School work (steal your papers and publish them with his/her name on it)

I'll mention again several scenarios about the attacker's mode of thinking:

- Once infected, your computer might be used as a Warez Archive. No matter how
  much or little free disk space you have, you'll probably have enough for the
  attacker's needs. He/she won't use all of your bandwidth; there will be some
  limit for connections to your computer, so you'll still be able to do your
  work without knowing that your computer is used as a pirated software FTP
  Server and it is known to people worldwide who keep downloading software
  from YOU.
- Kiddie-Porn traders will also use your computer for storing their archives
  and again turning your machine into a well known place for traders of nasty
  and above all illegal pictures. You'll again do your work and have no clue
  there are illegal activities going in your computer.
- The attacker might just want to have fun with you, open/close the CD tray,
  play with your mouse, annoy you somehow; that's stupid and useless but a lot
  of people do it.
- Your computer might be used for other illegal purposes like the attacker's
  usage of your IP address to hack, scan, flood, infiltrate other machines on
  the Internet; so the victims will see your machine is doing it, and this
  will definitely get you in trouble.

11.Intelligence With Trojans
   -------------------------

Think for a while about how much your life depends on your computer, your ICQ,
your chat program, your e-mail address and think how vulnerable your life is
just because you're infected with a Trojan Horse. They can, and they have been
used for intelligence for a very long time. Just by reading your e-mails,
keeping track of your contacts, reading your private conversations, the web
sites you visit, ICQ history, mIRC log files with your private conversations
and a log of everything you do online, a psychological profile could be
created in several hours (depends of the skills of course) and your life, mode
of thinking, reactions on specific future situations and needs will be
revealed to some geek, wanting to recruit and/or manipulate you. This is food
for thought and another topic, but just think how a combination of psychology,
social engineering and computer security knowledge makes you a really powerful
guy. And remember that people reveal their REAL personalities, wishes, mode of
thinking, interests only when they think nobody is watching them...


12.Trojan Ports
   ------------

Trojans use specific ports to communicate with the client. In the old days the
well known trojan ports were mostly used, but today it's possible to change
the port every time the trojan is restarted. Here is a link to the best and
probably including all of the public trojans Ports List I've come across.

http://www.simovits.com/trojans/trojans.html


13.How Do I Know I'm Infected?
   ---------------------------

Sometimes you think it's normal Windows behaviour when there are 500 MB or so
missing on your HDD, because some software is using it, or you have installed
a game you forgot about and many other reasons but not the real one. Here are
some things which are very suspicious, and no matter how much your Anti-Virus
software tells you that you aren't infected, dig a little deeper and see what
really happened. One thing that will help you is to know the main features of
the public trojans, so you'll be able to react if you notice such activity on
your PC. I have included links to various Trojan Databases that you should
visit if you want to know the main features of the public ones.

- Its normal to visit a web site and several more pop-ups to appear with the
  one you've visited. But when you do completely nothing and suddenly your
  browser directs you to some page unknown to you, take that serious. 
  
- A strange and unknown Windows Message Box appears on your screen, asking
  you some personal questions. 
  
- Your Windows settings change by themselves like a new screensaver text,
  date/time, sound volume changes by itself, your mouse moves by itself,
  CD-ROM drawer opens and closes.

Please note that most advanced attackers will just spy on you and use your
infected machine for some specific reason, and not perform any of the above
"tricks" so as not to cause any suspicious activity on the target system (as
this would probably mean they could get easily detected). Someone that just
wants to have fun with you is more likely to perform these actions.

14.Anti-Virus (AV) Scanners
   -------------------

In the old days Virus Scanners used to detect only viruses and just a small
part of the public trojans on the Internet. Realising how dangerous and
popular Trojans are becoming today most, if not all of these scanners detect
probably all of the public ones out there. As always people, think they are
safe and secure when using Virus Scanner but it's a false sense of security.
This type of software relies mainly on "signatures" of each trojan's server
executable and also its common auto-starting methods, but that is not the
perfect solution by far for protection yourself against trojans, as they use
many other methods to hide inside the machine, most of which are undetected
by Anti-Virus Software. When trojans became a big security breach, specific
Anti-Trojan packages were released to the public and it was necessary for the
AVs to start detecting not only viruses, but also trojans if they wanted new
users. As a result, most of them became really advanced trojan scanning and
detection systems, but for your maximal protection it's recommended to use
both Anti-Virus and Anti-Trojans software.

Public trojans appear online almost every day and the detection software is
updated every day for maximal protection of its customers. One very big
problem is that the users do not update their signature files as often as they
should be, thus having detection software that's not detecting several more
trojans or viruses. Users MUST update their software's signature files every
day, and it will take them only several minutes. Each and every time a new
file is downloaded, it MUST be scanned BEFORE being opened with Anti-Virus and
Anti-Trojan software. If you think the file is suspicious due to some reasons,
do NOT run it, but send it to your detection software labs for analysis.


15.Anti-Trojan Software
   --------------------

Here are reviews of the most popular Anti-Trojan packages. The list also
includes various applications (freeware) to help you monitor your computer for
ongoing Trojan activities. I suggest you visit the site of every product and
decide which one best fits to your needs. Check the links section at the end
of the paper to see various sites, providing reviews of the software below.

-- TDS-3 --

Trojan Defence Suite (TDS) is a indispensable, must-have software package for
protection against trojans. It has many unique functions never seen in other
Anti-Trojan packages. The program has really advanced features and if you're a
newbie, it will probably take some time before you are able to use the software
at its full capacity (read the excellent help files).

You can get TDS from http://tds.diamondcs.com.au/

-- LockDown2000 --

This is really good Anti-Trojan package that detects a LOT of trojans and other
known as "hacking tools" programs. It will help you monitor your system files
for changes, processes and registry modification. More info at its home page.

You can get LockDown2000 from http://www.lockdown2000.com

-- TFAK5 --

Trojans First Aid Kit is a trojan-scanner developed by SnakeByte. It has many
other unique features; it could be used as a Client for various public trojans
as well.

Download TFAK5 from http://www.snake-basket.de/tfak/TFAK5.zip

-- Trojan Remover --

Anti-Trojan software detecting 5468 trojans/worms (including variants) as at
15th August 2002. Systems files and registry monitoring functions are also
implemented. More info at its home page:

http://www.simplysup.com/tremover/details.html
 
-- Pest Patrol --

A tool that scans for trojans as well as programs known as "hacking tools" and
spyware. More info at its official page:

http://www.safersite.com/ 

-- Anti-Trojan 5.5 --

Trojans detection package that is able to remove most of the public trojans out
there. More info at its official page:

http://www.anti-trojan.net

-- Tauscan  --

Trojan scanner that has unique features and is a must have. It's also able to
detect new and never released to the public trojans. More info at its official
page:

http://www.agnitum.com/products/tauscan/

-- The Cleaner --

Very popular Anti-Trojan software, known by everyone. Check its home page at:

http://www.moosoft.com/

-- PC Door Guard --

Trojan detection software, detecting a lot of trojans, and a monitor of files
and directories is also included. More info at:

http://www.trojanclinic.com/pdg.html

-- Trojan Hunter --

Trojan detection package with a lot of functions. It's very handy.

More info at http://www.mischel.dhs.org/trojanhunter.jsp

-- LogMonitor --

Log Monitor is a file and directory monitoring tool. The program periodically
checks a selected file's modification time and executes an external program if
file's time was changed or not changed. For directories it handles such events
as files change, addition or removal. I recommend this tool as it's vary handy
and will help you a lot.

Home page: http://logmon.bitrix.ru/logmon/eng/

-- PrcView --

PrcView is a freeware process viewer utility that shows detailed information
about running processes. This information includes such details as the create
date/time, the version and full path for each DLL used by a selected process,
a list of all threads, memory blocks and heaps. PrcView also allows you to
kill and attach a debugger to a selected process. PrcView runs on both Windows
95/98 and Windows NT platforms and includes Windows and command-line versions
of the program.

Get PrcView from http://www.xmlsp.com/pview/prcview.htm

-- XNetStat --

GUI based netstat tool for Windows. It will help you monitor you machine for
open ports. Download it from:

http://packetstormsecurity.org/Win/netstat.zip

-- ConSeal PC FIREWALL --

A really good firewall for advanced users using Windows having basic knowledge
of TCP/IP and other protocols; this software will help you to secure your PC a
lot. It has some major advantages over other Win based firewalls. For the full
range of specifications, check its official web page at:

http://www.consealfirewall.com/


16.After You Clean Yourself
   ------------------------

Your machine has been compromised and probably a lot of sensitive data stolen,
files have been modified and illegal activities have been preformed on your
computer. Here I'll give you recommendations about what to do after you are
100% clean of trojans.

- Accounting Data such as ISP passwords, ICQ, mIRC, FTP, web site passwords,
  e-mail address passwords are definitely known to the attacker. Contact your
  ISP about changing your dial-up password if you're using such connection.
  Immediately change your ICQ, mIRC passwords of course if they're still the
  same. (Often attackers won't change any of your accounting data to fool you
  everything is OK so there is a big chance you will still be able to recover
  from the compromise). Change your web based e-mail passwords and do check
  your information stored there, as password retrieval services for various
  e-mail providers such as Yahoo and Hotmail use this info combined with a
  "Secret Question" for password retrieval. Attackers often change the info,
  the answer to the secret question and many other things that will get them
  easily back into your mailbox, whether you've changed your pass or not.

- If you're taking advantage of the handy Address Book feature in your e-mail
  service, and have a list full of e-mails of friends, colleagues, etc. there
  is a real possibility that the attacker has sent them a trojan and possibly
  infected them too. Mail all of these people and ask them about receiving any
  files from your mailbox, inform them someone else might know your e-mail
  password so they'll be able to take appropriate actions like checking their
  machines for Trojans. Do the same with the people from your ICQ contact list
  as they might be targeted too.

- Check your HDD for abnormal activities like a lot of free space missing etc.
  Search for warez software and, as I mentioned, kiddie-porn archives.

- Think for a while about the sensitive information you had on your machine
  before the compromise, and if you are absolutely sure the attacker may know
  it too, then take appropriate action, like informing the any institutions
  the sensitive data belong to.

- Scan your machine with Anti-Virus scanner, as the attacker could have placed
  some virus or infected macro documents on your machine to do destructive
  things even there's no access for him/her to your machine.

- Monitor your processes BEFORE and AFTER connecting to the Internet, as some
  trojans start when they detect Internet connection. Don't get fooled again,
  be very suspicious.


17.Online Scanning Services
   ------------------------

These services are very popular these days and they are very handy for users
who haven't got much knowledge on all of the holes they're checking for, but
wanting to ensure they are protected from all of them. This section is placed
at the end of the paper with a specific reason. If you have read the paper,
you should know a LOT about trojans by now, their principles of working and
detection techniques, therefore you can decide whether these online scanners
are useful or if they give a false sense of safety.

There are several types of Online Scanners: Trojan Scanner, Port Scanner and
Bugs Checker.

- Trojan Scanner
  It's using a list with predefined ports, associated with the name of the
  trojan responding to its default port, like Girl Friend=21544, and if this
  port is in "listening" state on your machine it will inform you that you've
  been infected with the GirlFriend Trojan. As you already know, trojans have
  functions like changing their default port to ANY of the attacker's choice.
  That makes these Trojan Scanners kind of useless, because serious attackers
  do change the default port for sure.

- Port Scanner
  This service has two options like well-known ports scan and all ports scan.
  The first feature is scanning for well known ports, again associated with
  the appropriate service related to the port like port 21-FTP, 23-Telnet,
  25-SMTP. The second feature is rarely seen on a free one, because of the
  bandwidth it would generate to scan all of the 65,535 ports. It will again
  associate ports with services like I mentioned above, and if it finds any
  unknown ports not associated with any service, it will also report it, like
  Port 34525 State:Listening, which means this port is waiting for connections
  from the outside.

- Bugs Checker
  Its purpose is to check your Browser or your E-mail Software for well known
  bugs and security related problems. If any are detected, it will point you
  to a site containing the patches for these bugs or a site with the latest
  updated versions of the software.

It's strongly recommended to close any other Internet related application on
your machine before being scanned by Online Trojan Scanner and Port Scanner.
You decide which service is best for you, which one will be able to detect
trojan infections on your machine, and which won't; you now know the main
principles and the answers too, I hope. Links to several online scanning
services I know of are included in the Links Section.

18.Advice
   ------

This is a very useful section, full of tips and advice on how to protect
yourself from trojans using various ways you've already read about, but
summarised here for faster reading and hopefully better understanding.

[01] Never accept a file even it is from some friend. You're never sure who's
     on the other side of the computer at the moment. If you really need this
     file, let's say some presentation or a work paper, find other ways, like
     the phone, and verify the file is from your friend. Yeah it will take you
     some time and slow you a bit, but be paranoid about attachments you may
     receive and don't get infected.
    
[02] When executing files, first check their type. Is it really a .doc or it's
     some executable with a .doc icon.

[03] Update your Anti-Virus and Anti-Trojan package signature files regularly,
     if possible EVERY day for maximal protection, as new trojans and viruses
     are discovered every day. Most of the detection software have functions
     like scheduling scans so if you are away from your machine during the
     night but you leave it switched on, why not consider to schedule a scan
     and update every night? Doing so will ensure your maximal protection.

[04] Make sure you always have the latest version of the software you're using
     as new bugs appear very often and programs are regularly updated. Check
     often to see if there are bugs and/or other problems found in software
     that may potentially expose your system to risk - and patch/update your
     system(s) accordingly. Some software have an option to check for the
     latest version of the software from the vendor web site; make use of it.

[05] Take several minutes and regularly check the processes on your machine
     with the software I reviewed above. You'll be surprised what you may
     detect sometimes.

[06] It's vital to understand the risk of getting software from someone you
     just met, or had only several ICQ, IRC conversations with.

[07] Consider freeware programs as very risky software to download, and try
     searching for some reviews of the program before running it.

[08] Carefully read the help files coming with your detection software to be
     able to use them to their full capacity.

[09] Download software ONLY from its official page(s) or dedicated mirror web
     site. Never get the latest version of mIRC or ICQ from some site you've
     never heard about like from some free web space provider like Geocities.
     Consider it as an untrusted site and do NOT download anything from there.

[10] If you are playing with trojans you can also get infected as there are
     trojans or other software that are already infected and is waiting for
     someone with not so much knowledge on the topic to download and use it.

[11] Don't be so naive on everything you see on the Internet or what various
     sites offer you - don't download some software you've never heard about.

19.Links Section
   -------------

This section will be very useful for everyone interested in reading various
papers about trojans written by other people, anti-trojan software reviews
sites, trojans archives, trojan protection portals and many other sites
related to the topic. If you want me to add your link in the next update mail
me and if the site is somehow related to the topic, I will definately include
it in the list.

Please don't forget that you can find these and many other security related
links at our extensive web links directory at Frame4 Security Systems; check
it out at: http://www.frame4.com/php/modules.php?name=Web_Links

-- Trojan Portals and Archives --

URL  : http://www.tlsecurity.net
DESC : Excellent, well-known security portal providing many trojan resources
       and information regarding the topic

URL  : http://www.euyulio.org
DESC : Security portal, huge trojans archive and other unique features

URL  : http://www.megasecurity.org/
DESC : Megasecurity portal having huge trojans archive and well sorted library
       on the subject

URL  : http://www.trojan.ch
DESC : Trojans portal, news, archive, unique programs

URL  : http://www.trojanforge.net/
DESC : Trojans portal, trojans archive, documents, www-board

URL  : http://packetstormsecurity.org/trojans
DESC : Packetstorm's trojans section

URL  : http://www.pcflank.com
DESC : Security portal providing various functions as browser tests, remote
       trojan scanning

URL  : http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/trojans/tr-tests.htm
DESC : Site showing results of actual (functional comparison) tests performed
       with various trojan detection programs

-- Trojan Database Libraries --

URL  : http://www.simovits.com/trojans/trojans.html
DESC : Huge, detailed and well sorted list of trojans and their functions

URL  : http://www.tlsecurity.net/tlfaq.htm
DESC : Comprehensive list and analysis of probably all the public trojans

URL  : http://www.blackcode.com/trojans/
DESC : Trojans/worms library database provided by BlackCode

-- Anti Trojan Sites --

URL  : http://www.hackfix.org/
DESC : Site with resources related to trojan protection and helping newbies

URL  : http://www.nohack.net/
DESC : The nohack project helps newbies clean their PCs and protect themselves

URL  : http://www.virushelp.info
DESC : IRC channel related to virus and trojans protection

URL  : http://www.anti-trojan.org 
DESC : Anti-trojan help site

-- Detection Software Reviews --

URL  : http://www.wilders.org/anti_trojans.htm
DESC : Site providing reviews of anti-trojan software

URL  : http://www.rokopsecurity.de/
DESC : German site providing reviews of various anti-virus and anti-trojan
       software, and many other information (site language is German)

URL  : http://www.fruitloop.net/virushelp/index.html
DESC : Site providing reviews of detection software

URL  : http://www.firewallguide.com/anti-trojan.htm
DESC : Site providing various security related services and reviews

-- Papers Regarding Windows Trojans --

URL  : http://www.jmu.edu/computing/info-security/engineering/issues/remote.shtml
DESC : Interesting paper about windows trojans

URL  : http://members.ozemail.com.au/~netsafe/trojan_index.html
DESC : Detailed information about windows trojans

URL  : http://researchweb.watson.ibm.com/antivirus/SciPapers/Whalley/inwVB99.html
DESC : Windows trojans

URL  : http://researchweb.watson.ibm.com/antivirus/SciPapers/Smoke/smoke.html
DESC : Another must read paper

URL  : http://www.frame4.com/content/files/the_gentle_art_of_trojan_horsing_under_windows.txt
DESC : Windows trojans

URL  : http://www.frame4.com/content/files/trojdetecte.txt
DESC : Snakebyte's tips about trojan detection

URL  : http://www.frame4.com/content/files/what_trojan.pdf
DESC : Paper about windows trojans

URL  : http://www.frame4.com/content/files/Trojan_reversing.txt
DESC : Interesting reading

-- Online Scanners --

URL  : http://www.hackerwhacker.com/
DESC : A must visit vulnerability checker with unique features

URL  : http://www.scannerx.com
DESC : Vulnerability assessment scanner

URL  : http://scan.sygatetech.com/
DESC : Security scanner

-- Browser and E-mail Software --

URL  : http://www.nwnetworks.com/iesc.html 
DESC : Internet Explorer security centre

URL  : http://www.guninski.com
DESC : Browser and active content researcher a must visit

URL  : http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/whitepapers/activecontent.html
DESC : Whitepaper about active content security

-- Misc --

URL  : http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Security/Anti_Virus/Trojans/
DESC : Google's trojans directory

URL  : http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q262/6/31.asp?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0
DESC : Risky file extensions

URL  : http://www.frame4.com/content/files/razor.wintrinoo.txt
DESC : Review of the WinTrinoo trojan

URL  : http://www.megasecurity.org/Info/mIRC.txt
DESC : Very detailed paper on mIRC backdoors

20.Final Words
   -----------

I really hope you've realised how big security problem Windows Trojan Horses
are, and you've become a little paranoid about your security. If you've ever
found yourself infected, I also hope that while reading the paper, you have
understood how you may have gotten infected the last time and I'm sure you
won't make the same mistake again. The paper will be regularly updated with
the latest info regarding the topic, as new variations of trojans and ways
of infection appear very often. If you think I've missed something, please
do not hesitate to contact me and contribute to it. Your feedback, ideas,
comments, suggestions and everything related to the paper and the topic will
be gratefully appreciated. I can be contacted at dancho.danchev@frame4.com.

Part of the Frame4 Security Systems Publications Archive, this paper can be
located at http://www.frame4.com/publications/index.php. Please visit the
archive to get the latest updates to this paper and many other security
related documents.

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