The Shocking Truth Behind the 3200-Year-Old Tale of Computer Viruses

Dive into the captivating journey of the Trojan Horse, from its legendary origins in ancient Greece to its modern-day incarnation as one of the most dangerous cyber threats.

ENGLISH LANGUAGES

1/22/20255 min read

Introduction

The world's most dangerous Trojan Horse virus has attacked 23,000 computers across 150 countries. This Trojan was detected in 2017, but by then, it had already caused millions of dollars in damage. A Trojan Horse is a type of malware that sneaks into our computers or smartphones under the radar. But why is it called a Trojan Horse? The first Trojan Horse was actually created back in 1975, but it really took off later on.

The Original Trojan Horse

About 3200 years ago, ancient Greece was where modern-day Turkey is located. If you look at a map, you'll find that southwest of Istanbul, there used to be a city called Troy. Back in the day, this city was protected by a massive and strong fortress, making it hard to invade. The people living in Troy were called Trojans. This city was situated on the coast of the Aegean Sea, and across the water, where Greece's capital Athens is now, there was a place called Achaea, which we now recognize as part of Greek history.

The Greek Siege of Troy

It's believed that the rulers of these two lions got into some kind of conflict, which led the Greeks to cross the sea and invade the city of Troy. The Greeks were known far and wide for their military prowess and thought they could capture Troy and head back home. But despite their relentless efforts, they couldn't break down the city's gates. So, they came up with a plan to surround the fortress completely, cutting off the food supply to those inside.

The Trojan Horse Strategy

The Greeks either had to force their way out or surrender to the Trojans, and days turned into months, then years. The Trojans were holding strong, but it’s said that for the next ten years, the Greeks kept failing to break into Troy. Meanwhile, the Trojans, sitting comfortably in their own city, didn’t seem to weaken at all. On the other hand, the Greeks, who’d been away from their families for years, were losing hope and their morale was dropping every single day.

The Wooden Horse Deception

It was happening, and many soldiers were heading back home, struggling as the water reached their necks. The Greeks were keeping a close eye on everything. Then, the leader of the Greek army had an idea and started building a huge wooden horse. The Trojans thought that maybe the Greeks were trying out some new trick, but they had no idea why the horse was being made. After a few weeks, when the horse was finally ready, the Greeks announced one evening that they were leaving for good. Under the cover of night, they made it look like they were heading back to their city.

The Fall of Troy

The next morning, Troy realized for the first time in ten years that the Greeks weren't outside his vote. When they came out, the Greeks didn’t seem to notice him. He had left the horse as a gift for Troy, and this was a happy moment for him. He quickly wanted to take the horse inside his vote. An old man tried to stop him from doing that, but Troy ignored him and, laughing and jumping around, took the horse inside, thinking of it as a gift. That night, they were all very happy and continued to celebrate the end of the war, but eventually, everyone fell asleep.

The Trojan Horse in the Digital Age

So, they pulled out a huge surprise from that horse. Yeah, the Greeks totally pulled a fast one. Not only were they hiding inside the horse, but they were also stashed away in boats out in the sea, just off the coast of their city. The Greeks first opened the gates of the fort and signaled for their hidden buddies to come in. After that, under the cover of night, the Greeks unleashed their 10-year-long plan and wrecked the whole city of Troy, setting it ablaze. That's where the whole idea of the Trojan Horse came from, the same Trojan Horse we talk about today.

From Ancient Strategy to Modern Cyber Threat

Even after 3200 years, people are still trying to find a way to get into mobile phones and computers. If you fall for some scam, like clicking on an infected link or typing in a message about winning a lottery while playing a game, that stuff can sneak into your phone and mess things up in no time, with help from others behind the scenes. The first computer Trojan horse, famously known as "Animal," was created in 1975. It was a pretty simple and harmless Trojan that was part of a game with 20 questions to answer.

The Evolution of Trojans

Whenever someone started answering questions in this game, it would automatically copy itself to another computer on the network. You could say it was just a joke where a game would copy itself onto a computer without permission. But on January 19, 1986, the Trojan Horse was no longer a joke. Two brothers with ties to Pakistan, with good intentions, ended up creating the world's first recognized virus. They found a way to embed their small software into a medical software disk, making it easy to replicate.

The Birth of Cyber Threats

To protect their software from illegal copies, they created a virus that would copy itself onto floppy disks along with their software, corrupting the entire computer in the process. Time went on, and Trojan horses, malware, and dangerous spyware began to make their mark on the internet. In 2010, three friends from Israel started a company called So Group. They developed software that allowed tax support workers to access their clients' systems with their permission.

The Rise of Pigsis

This software was basically created to provide support to customers, but the European intelligence agency showed interest in it, wanting the ability to access any system without permission. So, this software transformed into what they now call "Pigsis." Since then, they claim that access to this spyware is only given to the government to tackle crime and terrorism. It quickly became successful, and now Israel considers it a cyber weapon.

Pegasus and its Global Impact

Distribution is only done in those countries that Israel wants, whether it's an iPhone, Android, or any mobile phone. Just by entering the mobile number, it can attack the user's phone. Its presence on the phone means that the attacker can easily access everything from the gallery to the camera, messages, calls, and even live location tracking, even if you’ve turned off location services. In 2017, the company had 500 employees, and by 2021, that number had grown to 750. Tech companies like WhatsApp and Apple have such a strong grip that in 2019 they...

Controversies and Legal Battles

In the American courts against WhatsApp, it was stated that Pegasus has been used on over 1,400 users, including human rights defenders, journalists, military personnel, and civil officials. It was originally designed to combat crime, but it's also been used for political and national-level spying. There's a belief that Pegasus was used in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had already been flagged for surveillance before his assassination at the Saudi embassy.

Conclusion

When this scandal got really big, only then did the Saudi authorities put a stop to the access given for the spyware. And it didn't stop there; in 2019, The Guardian published a report saying that the Pakistani Army's high-ranking officials were being monitored. There's no doubt that Israel sees this spyware as a crucial tool in its foreign policy. A recent example of this was during the Russia-Ukraine war, when Israel refused to grant access to Ukraine and Estonia because they suspected that it would fall into the hands of Russian officials.

"It'll be used against them, and Israel didn’t want to ruin its relationship with Russia. 320 years ago, it was just one Trojan horse, but today, millions of crores and countless files are out there looking for their next target in the world of the internet. Thank you so much for your loving comments. See you in the next awesome blog!"