< application , security > (Coined by MIT -hacker-turned-NSA-spook Dan Edwards) A malicious, security-breaking program that is disguised as something benign, such as a directory lister, archiver, game, or (in one notorious 1990 case on the Mac) a program to find and destroy virus es! A Trojan horse is similar to a back door .
See also RFC 1135 , worm , phage , mockingbird .
[ Jargon File ]
(1995-03-21)