Let s decide on the fundamental definition I agree with the user above How Trojans Work in that this article contradicts itself on the basic characteristics of a trojan I would like to offer a discussion before any significant edits are made Basically it s unclear whether or not a trojan must include a backdoor as part of its payload I would argue that the backdoor element would be one possible payload out of the many suggested and malware which had an effect other than planting a backdoor or vulnerability e g deleting files would still be a trojan if it did so by misleading the user appearing to have a desirable function As such I suggest that the opening definition be clarified to at least make it clear that the backdoor element is not mandatory Anyone disagree