What Is a Computer Worm? | anti virus worm
Whereasvirusesneedtoborrowyourcomputer’sprogrammingorcodeinordertoexecuteandreplicatethemselves,wormsareself-contained.That’swhythere’snosuchthingasa“wormvirus[1]”—they’retwocompletelydifferent,thoughsimilar,typesofmalware[2].Howdocomputerwormswork?Computerwormsaredangerousbecauseofhowcapabletheyare.Assoonasawormgainsafootholdinahostmachine,it’sabletospreadthroughoutanetworkwithoutanyexternalaidoractions.Asself-containedmalware,wormsdon’tneedtofoolyouintoactivatingthem,likeTrojans[3]do.Worms...
Whereas viruses need to borrow your computer’s programming or code in order to execute and replicate themselves, worms are self-contained. That’s why there’s no such thing as a “worm virus[1]” — they’re two completely different, though similar, types of malware[2].
How do computer worms work?Computer worms are dangerous because of how capable they are. As soon as a worm gains a foothold in a host machine, it’s able to spread throughout a network without any external aid or actions. As self-contained malware, worms don’t need to fool you into activating them, like Trojans[3] do.
Worms get the job done by exploiting hidden vulnerabilities in your computer’s operating system (OS). Hackers[4] create worms in such a way that they can burrow into the target OS and do their dirty work without your knowledge. Below, we’ll show you how to tell if your computer has a worm so you can take steps to remove it right away.
For ma...