[Full-disclosure] Re: Help put a stop to incompetent computer forensics

[Jason Coombs]

Erik Kamerling wrote:
> Trojan Horse
> A computer program that appears to have a useful function, but also has a 
> hidden and potentially malicious function that evades security mechanisms, 
> sometimes by exploiting legitimate authorizations of a system entity that 
> invokes the program.
> 
> Copied from the SANS Glossary of Terms Used in Security and Intrusion 
> Detection. 
> 
> http://www.sans.org/resources/glossary.php

Common usage in practice today matters as much as if not more than the 
original use of the term in computing. The term Trojan is synonymous 
with malware that adds a backdoor, even if a bunch of old people think 
it's still okay to call other malicious code by this name.

From:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_%28computing%29

In practice, Trojan Horses in the wild do contain spying functions (such 
as a Packet sniffer) or backdoor functions that allow a computer, 
unbeknownst to the owner, to be remotely controlled remotely from the 
network, creating a "zombie_computer". Because Trojan horses often have 
these harmful functions, there often arises the misunderstanding that 
such functions define a Trojan Horse.