What is Backdoor in Computer ?

A backdoor is a method, often secret, of bypassing normal authentication in a product, computer system, cryptosystem or algorithm etc. Backdoors are often used for securing unauthorized remote access to a computer, or obtaining access to plaintext in cryptographic systems.

A backdoor may take the form of a hidden part of a program, a separate program (e.g. Back Orifice may subvert the system through a rootkit), or may be a hardware feature. Although normally surreptitiously installed, in some cases backdoors are deliberate and widely known. These kinds of backdoors might have "legitimate" uses such as providing the manufacturer with a way to restore user passwords.

Default passwords can function as backdoors if they are not changed by the user. Some debugging features can also act as backdoors if they are not removed in the release version.

In 1993 the United States government attempted to deploy an encryption system, the Clipper chip, with an explicit backdoor for law enforcement and national security access. The chip was unsuccessful internationally and in business.