troj

troj is a shorthand term used in cybersecurity to refer to Trojan horse malware, a class of malicious software that misrepresents itself or its purpose to deceive the user into installing or executing it. The term derives from the ancient Greek story of the Trojan Horse, and in practice "troj" appears in threat reports and threat intelligence feeds as an informal label for Trojans. These programs are typically delivered under the guise of legitimate software, updates, or harmless files, aiming to persuade users to run them.

Unlike worms or viruses, trojans do not self-replicate. They rely on user action or social engineering to run. Once active, they may open a backdoor, steal credentials, download additional payloads, or perform other unauthorized actions. Trojan payloads vary widely and can be used for data exfiltration, surveillance, or as installers for ransomware, cryptominers, or botnet clients.

Common delivery methods include phishing emails, malicious attachments or links, compromised software installers, and drive-by downloads on compromised websites. Trojan components may be embedded in seemingly legitimate programs, including updates or utilities, making detection challenging without careful analysis.

Defending against trojan malware involves layered security: endpoint protection with real-time heuristics, regular software updates and patch management, application whitelisting, user education to avoid suspicious downloads, and network monitoring for unusual outbound connections. Behavior-based detection and sandbox analysis help identify trojans that use obfuscated payloads or exploit kits. Because the label "troj" is informal, it should not be treated as representing a single family of threats but as a shorthand for Trojan horse malware in security reporting.