🗓️ Idiom: Trojan Horse (n)
💬 Meaning
- A trick or tool that looks safe but causes harm once inside a system.
- In IT, it often means a type of malware disguised as helpful software.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The fake update was actually a Trojan horse that infected the network.
- That free app turned out to be a Trojan horse filled with spyware.
- Always scan attachments — one Trojan horse can crash your system.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from a very old Greek story where the Greeks gave the city of Troy a wooden horse. The wooden horse had soldiers hidden inside. These soldiers then attacked the city form the inside.
In IT, it describes malware that enters by pretending to be useful or safe.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Be careful. That free software could be a __________ designed to steal your data.
Answer
Trojan horse
2. Choose the correct meaning of “Trojan horse” in IT:
A) A safe program
B) A coding shortcut
C) Malware hidden in a harmless-looking file
D) A strong password
Answer
C) Malware hidden in a harmless-looking file
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“The hacker sent a file that looked safe but caused damage after installation.” → Change the sentence using: Trojan horse
Answer
The hacker sent a Trojan horse that caused damage after installation.