1. A trojan that when run, provides a hacker remote administration to the machine. Contrast: A trojan is any program with a hidden intent. A RAT is one whose hidden intent is to remotely control the machine. In particular, once the program is run and installs itself as a hidden background service, it ceases to a trojan in the classic sense and is now better thought of as a rootkit. Example: Back Orifice, NetBus, SubSeven, Hack'a'tack Contrast: A remote administration trojan is not a virus. The general populace uses the word virus to apply to any hostile program a hacker might use. Normally, being a purist using the correct word is futile, but in this case the distinction is important. You catch viruses accidentally, and the virus rarely does anything hostile to your system. Conversely, when a hacker attempts to infect your system with a remote administration trojan, the hacker is attacking you personally. Key point: Infections by remote administration Trojans on Windows machines are becoming as frequent as viruses. One common vector is through File and Print Sharing, when home users inadvertently open up their system to the rest of the world. If a hacker has access to the hard-drive, he/she can place the trojan in a location known as the startup folder. This will run the trojan the next time the user logs in. Another common vector is when the hacker simply e-mails the trojan to the user along with a social engineering hack that convinces the user to run it against their better judgment. From Hacking-Lexicon