What is a worm?
A worm is a program that can actually propagate itself without requiring user interaction. A worm is not technically a “virus” because it can reproduce itself independently. A good example of this was the ILOVEYOU email worm, which automatically emailed itself to everyone in the recipient’s address book. A worm can spread itself to hundreds of thousands of machines very quickly via the local networks and the Internet.
A worm, like a virus, is designed to copy itself from one computer to another, but it does so automatically by taking control of features on the computer that can transport files or information. Once you have a worm in your system it can travel alone. A great danger of worms is their ability to replicate in great volume. For example, a worm could send out copies of itself to everyone listed in your e-mail address book, and their computers would then do the same, causing a domino effect of heavy network traffic that would slow down our network and the Internet as a whole. When new worms are unleashed, they spread very quickly, clogging networks and possibly making you wait twice as long for you (and everyone else) to view Web pages on the Internet. Worm (n.) A subclass of virus. A worm generally spreads without user action and distributes complete copies (possibly modified) of itself across networks. A worm can consume memory or network bandwidth, thus causing a computer to stop respond
Worms are programs that spread from system to system and are able to replicate themselves without the need for an infected host file. Worms normally reside in Word or Excel files. Once on a system they will release an infected document onto that system. When the file is copied this in turn releases an infected file onto the new system. Protecting yourself from infectionIt is a fact that all computer users will become infected with a virus at some point. But you can take steps to minimise the risk and reduce the damage a successful infection can cause. How? By installing an Anti-virus program.There are a number of programs available to buy, there are even some free programs on the Internet. If you bought a computer from a store you may even have been supplied with an anti-virus program as part of the software package. Tips for preventing virus infectionsInstall anti-virus software. You can buy this from any local computer store or us.
A worm is a virus that does not infect other programs. It makes copies of itself, and infects additional computers (typically by making use of network connections) but does not attach itself to additional programs; however a worm might alter, install, or destroy files and programs. Melissa: The Melissa Worm, also known as “Mailissa”, “Simpsons”, “Kwyjibo”, or “Kwejeebo”, is a computer worm that also functions as a macro virus, hence making it a “multipartite virus”. Code Red: The Code Red worm was a computer worm released via the Internet on July 13, 2001 affecting computers running Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS) web server. The programmers at eEye Digital Security who reported it named it after both the Mountain Dew soft drink and the phrase “Hacked By Chinese!” (see Red Scare) that it propagated.
