Which description best matches the behavior described as a Trojan Horse?

Which description best matches the behavior described as a Trojan Horse?

• A. It hides malicious functionality by appearing legitimate and exploiting legitimate authorizations.
• B. It automatically deletes itself after use.
• C. It is primarily used to measure network performance.
• D. It is a type of firewall rule.

Answer: (A)

A Trojan Horse works by hiding malicious functionality inside something that looks legitimate, then gaining trust or access by exploiting legitimate authorizations. It doesn’t reveal its true purpose upfront, so users or systems are tricked into installing or executing it. Once inside, it can perform harmful actions, data theft, or backdoor access while pretending to be harmless software. That deceptive, permission-using behavior is what makes it a Trojan Horse—the program leverages trust and legitimate privileges to operate covertly. The other options don’t fit this idea. Automatically deleting itself after use is just a self-removal tactic and not the defining trait of a Trojan. A tool used to measure network performance is a legitimate benchmarking utility, not malware. A firewall rule is a security control, not a type of software that deceives users or bypasses protections.

A Trojan Horse works by hiding malicious functionality inside something that looks legitimate, then gaining trust or access by exploiting legitimate authorizations. It doesn’t reveal its true purpose upfront, so users or systems are tricked into installing or executing it. Once inside, it can perform harmful actions, data theft, or backdoor access while pretending to be harmless software. That deceptive, permission-using behavior is what makes it a Trojan Horse—the program leverages trust and legitimate privileges to operate covertly.

The other options don’t fit this idea. Automatically deleting itself after use is just a self-removal tactic and not the defining trait of a Trojan. A tool used to measure network performance is a legitimate benchmarking utility, not malware. A firewall rule is a security control, not a type of software that deceives users or bypasses protections.