Remote Access Trojan (RAT)
Also known as: RAT, Remote access trojan
A remote access trojan (RAT) is malware that gives an attacker remote control of an infected device. Many RATs include infostealer and keylogging features, letting attackers both steal credentials and operate the machine interactively.
What is a RAT?
A remote access trojan provides covert, full remote control of a compromised system — file access, command execution, surveillance, and more. RATs blur into the infostealer category because most include credential theft and keylogging.
RATs and credential theft
Beyond hands-on control, RATs harvest saved credentials and log keystrokes, feeding the same credential-theft economy as dedicated stealers while also enabling deeper, interactive compromise.
VantaPrism focuses on the credential and session data exfiltrated by RAT and stealer infections alike, surfacing exposures when they reach monitored channels.
Check Your Exposure arrow_forwardFrequently Asked Questions
How is a RAT different from an infostealer?
Related Terms
A keylogger is malware or hardware that records a user's keystrokes to capture passwords, messages, and other sensiti…
Infostealer malware is a category of malicious software designed to silently harvest sensitive data — passwords, sess…
Credential theft is the act of stealing authentication data — usernames, passwords, tokens, and session cookies — so…
Command and control (C2) is the infrastructure attackers use to communicate with malware on infected devices — issuin…