Trojan horse
see also: Trojan Horse
Proper noun
  1. The hollow wooden horse by which the Greeks allegedly gained access to Ilium/Troy during the Trojan War.
Translations
  • French: cheval de Troie
  • German: Trojanisches Pferd
  • Italian: cavallo di Troia
  • Portuguese: cavalo de Troia
  • Russian: троя́нский конь
  • Spanish: caballo de Troya
Noun

Trojan horse (plural Trojan horses)

  1. (by extension) A subversive person or device placed within the ranks of the enemy.
  2. (computing) A malicious program that is disguised as legitimate software.
    • 1991, Katie Hafner & John Markoff, Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier (1995 revised edition), Simon and Schuster, ISBN 0684818620, pp. 255-256:
      Worse than what could be observed about the program was the fear that it might be a Trojan horse program -- apparently innocent, but carrying a string of code instructing the computer to carry out a specific damaging instruction at some later time.
  3. (business) A seemingly favorable offer designed to trick customers into making exorbitant payments.
  4. (politics) A person, organization, social movement, piece of legislation, or ideology with a negative agenda or evil intentions under the guise of positive values or good intentions.
    • 2003, Krugman, Paul R., The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century (2004 reprint), W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0393326055, p. 449:
      Indeed, it may turn out to be a Trojan horse that finally allows conservative ideologues, who have unsuccessfully laid siege to Medicare since the days of Barry Goldwater, to breach its political defenses.
Synonyms Translations Translations
Trojan Horse
Proper noun
  1. Alternative form of Trojan horse



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