Trojan horses are the most dangerous online threats of 2017

More than 788 million Trojan horses were detected in the first eight months of 2017.

The Trojan horse was the world's most dangerous online threat during the first eight months of 2017, according to stats from antivirus software maker Avira. 

Trojan horses alone account for 60% of online threats recorded by Avira, with more than 788 million detections during the first eight months of 2017. Trojan horses are malicious programs that are disguised as useful or helpful programs to trick users into downloading them. Perhaps the best-known kind, due to recent media attention, is ransomware. This software encrypts user data and holds it hostage, demanding a ransom to be paid for its release.