Back Orifice

"Back Orifice" is a hacker's dream, and a Netizen's nightmare.

Back Orifice is not a virus. It is in essence a remote administration tool.

It gives "system admin" type privileges to a remote user by way of the computer's Internet link.

What does this mean? It means that if Back Orifice is running in your computer, a remote operator anywhere on the global Internet can gain access and do almost anything you can do on your computer -- and some things you can't do -- all without any outward indication of his presence.

Back Orifice can arrive disguised as a component of practically any software installation. It can be attached to other files or programs or run on its own. It must be run, by itself or by another application. It then installs itself in seconds, typically erases the original, then may run a specified program. To the user installing an "infected" application, it will appear that all went normally. But from that moment forward, your system offers easy and comprehensive access anytime it is connected to the Internet.

In itself, Back Orifice does not cause any malfunction. It runs quite invisibly to the user, consumes insignificant memory and resources, and does little besides simply open up access to standard Windows 95 functions.

Win95/98 is in essence a networking operating system. It's designed to give access and control to the system administrator on any network to which it is connected. Back Orifice simply implements standard system admin functions and includes a few handy tools for the remote operator's convenience. But it does so very quietly, almost undetectably.

I've created a handy page with the basics about Back Orifice in a Q&A format, with links to helpful hints, more in-depth information and step-by step instructions for detection and removal.

Read on for a broad summary of Back Orifice and its implications, and follow my links, on and off this site, for a comprehensive view of this rather surprising tool.

A little knowledge can render you virtually free of any threat, and may also nudge you down a road of greater utilization and control of your own computer and its Internet connections.