Thursday, March 02, 2006

what is a RAT?

a RAT, or remote access trojan (sometimes remote administration tool) is a program that listens for and accepts connections from a remote 3rd party and carries out the commands that 3rd party gives it... essentially it's a server that provides remote control functionality...

as is traditionally the case with trojans, there are some circumstances where this functionality is legitimate or even desirable and some circumstances where it is not... it is legitimate and desirable when you are the administrator of the system with the remote control software on it and are personally using the software to administer the system remotely...it is not legitimate when you are tricked into installing it or are otherwise unaware that it is installed on your computer and unaware that someone else has control of that system (most responsible remote administration tools are made in such a way as to not be easy to install without the user's knowledge or consent)...

it is only in the circumstances where it is not legitmate or desirable that such a remote control program qualifies as a remote access trojan...

back to index

0 comments: