RATs (Remote Admin Trojans) are a special form of Trojan Horse that allows remote control over a machine. The most famous is Back Orifice due to its catchy name, but that Trojan as since been supplanted by others in popularity. Such programs are very frightening because the victims often have no idea how they became infected. With no warning, windows pop up on their screen, the CD-ROM door opens/closes, the mouse cursor moves, etc. It seems like their system has become possessed with daemons.
However, this is just like a magic trick: while the effects are impressive, the trick itself is very simple. The hacker just sent the victim the program, which the victim then ran. At this point, the victim has opened a door to the system that gives the hacker complete control.
Therefore, defense is very easy:
- Never run programs that people send you.
- Don't enable File and Print Sharing that would enable hackers to write such programs to your disk
Remember, don't panic. If weird stuff like this happens, simply disconnect your network connection and go to the store and purchase a virus scanner. These programs can also find and remove trojans. Also, putting BlackICE Defender in "Paranoid" mode will usually block them.
