Computers and Technology

A computer worm infection is certainly nothing to take lightly. Just like a computer virus or trojan, computer worms can wreak havoc on a system. At their least damaging, computer worms are a nuisance, and at their worst they can leave a system completely non-functional. But, just what is a computer worm, and what makes it different from a virus or Trojan?

The short definition of a computer virus is malicious code that is usually attached to some kind of computer code that gets run by the user or a user's application, and then spreads itself. The short definition of a computer trojan is malicious code that usually pretends to be something else. Trojans quite often open up a back door on a system after being run by the user or a user's application. A computer worm, in contrast, does not need to be run by anyone. Computer worms by definition look for weaknesses in a system and spread themselves. There is no need for a user to run anything for a computer worm to infect their system.

This ability to spread themselves to other systems is what makes computer worms different and particularly nasty. One common way for computer worms to spread is to look for weaknesses in the services that many computers are running that most users are not even aware of. As nasty as it seems, a worm could automatically spread to your computer from some other computer anywhere on the internet. In turn, you system could then automatically start spreading the worm to other systems. This could happen without you ever knowing it is happening.

There are some rather easy steps to take to help mitigate the threat of computer worms:

In my opinion, every computer attached to the internet should have quality antivirus software up to date and running at all times. Quality antivirus software is very easy to install and run. The vendors have made their software very user friendly. The firewall recommendation is also quite important. Since computer worms can spread simply by any computer connecting to yours over the internet, a properly configured firewall is what is recommended to block these incoming connection attempts. However, there is a learning curve associated with firewalls. An improperly configured firewall could very well be useless. Not to mention, some firewalls can cause difficulties with playing online games, or using services such as FTP unless you are able to get them properly configured.

I hope this has given you a bit of a better understanding on what a computer worm is. Since they can spread themselves automatically, it is no wonder they have caused billions of dollars in damage when they wreak havoc.