RAT Trojan Horses
Many trojans and backdoors now have remote administration capabilities allowing an individual to control the victim's computer. Many times, a file called the server must be opened on the victim's computer before the trojan can have access to it. These are generally sent through email, P2P file sharing software, and in internet downloads. They are usually disguised as a legitimate program or file. Many server files will display a fake error message when opened, to make it seem like it didn't open. Some will also kill antivirus and firewall software. RAT trojans can generally do the following:
- Block mouse and keyboard
- Change your desktop wallpaper
- Download, upload, delete, and rename files
- Drop viruses and worms
- Edit Registry
- Use your internet to perform distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS)
- Format drives
- Grab passwords, credit card numbers
- Hijack homepage
- Hide desktop icons, taskbar and files
- Log keystrokes, keystroke capture software
- Open CD-ROM tray
- Overload the RAM/ROM drive
- Print text
- Play sounds
- Control mouse or keyboard
- Record sound with a connected microphone
- Record video with a connected webcam
- Shutdown, restart, log-off, shutdown monitor
- Steal passwords
- View screen
- View, kill, and start tasks in task manager
A well designed RAT will allow the operator the ability to do anything that they could do with physical access to the machine. Some RAT trojans are pranks that are most likely being controlled by a friend or enemy on April Fool's Day or a holiday. Prank RATS are generally not harmful, and won't log keystrokes or store information about the system on the computer. They usually do disruptive things like flip the screen upside-down, open the CD-ROM tray, and swap mouse buttons. However, they can be quite hard to remove. It is much safer (in terms of law) to use a VBS script instead, as you can get the same results without getting in trouble by the police for a minor "April fool's joke". See: Script kiddie
Read more about this topic: Remote Administration Software
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