Digital Forensic Certification Practice Exam

Which of the following attacks involves a program with malicious code disguised as harmless software?

1. Denial of service attack

2. Trojan horse attack

3. Keylogger attack

4. SQL injection attack

The correct answer is: Trojan horse attack

The Trojan horse attack is characterized by malicious software that is disguised as legitimate or harmless software to deceive users. The term "Trojan horse" originates from the Greek myth where the Greeks used a deceptive wooden horse to infiltrate the city of Troy. Similarly, in the context of computer security, Trojan horses might present themselves as everyday applications or utilities that users might find useful, but in reality, they contain harmful code designed to steal information, compromise systems, or launch additional attacks. Trojan horse attacks exploit user trust, as individuals may unknowingly download or install these programs, believing they are safe. Once executed, the malware can perform a variety of malicious actions, such as opening backdoors for hackers, stealing sensitive data, or even allowing remote control of the affected system. In contrast, other types of attacks mentioned, such as denial of service attacks, keylogger attacks, and SQL injection attacks, operate on different principles. Denial of service attacks aim to overwhelm a system and render it unavailable; keylogger attacks specifically capture keystrokes to retrieve sensitive information, and SQL injection attacks exploit vulnerabilities in a database query to manipulate or extract unauthorized data. Each of these methods does not involve disguising itself as a benign application, which is a unique hallmark of