Computer worm

Definition

A computer worm is a standalone malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. It often uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security failures on the target computer to access it. It will use this machine as a host to scan and infect other computers. When these new worm-invaded computers are controlled, the worm will continue to scan and infect other computers using these computers as hosts, and this behavior will continue. Computer worms use recursive methods to copy themselves without host programs and distribute themselves based on exploiting the advantages of exponential growth, thus controlling and infecting more and more computers in a short time. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, even if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer.

Related concepts

ACL (software)ARPANET Access Control List ActiveX Advanced persistent threat Adware Anomaly detection Anti-keylogger Antispyware Antivirus software Application security Arbitrary code execution Authentication Authorization Automotive security BBN Technologies Backdoor (computing)Bandwidth (computing)Bill Gates Blaster (computer worm)Blaster worm BlueKeep (security vulnerability)Botnet Botnets Browser Helper Object Browser security CEO CERT Coordination Center Clickjacking Code Red (computer worm)Code Shikara (Worm)Code injection Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Computer access control Computer and network surveillance Computer fraud Computer network Computer program Computer security Computer security software Computer virus Conficker Conficker worm Content-addressable memory Copy protection Cornell University Creeper and Reaper Crimeware Cross-site leaks Cross-site scripting Cryptojacking Cybercrime Cybergeddon Cybersex trafficking Cyberterrorism Cyberwarfare DOM clobbering Daemon (computing)Data-centric security Data breach Data loss prevention software Data masking Data scraping Data theft Defensive computing Denial-of-service attack Dialer Digital rights management Distributed computing Drive-by download E-mail spam Eavesdropping Electronic warfare Email Email fraud Email spam Email spoofing Encryption Endpoint detection and response Endpoint protection Ethernet Exploit (computer security)ExploreZip Exponential growth Father Christmas (computer worm)Firewall (computing)Firewall (networking)Fleeceware Fork bomb Form grabbing GitHub HTML Hacktivism Hardware Trojan Hardware backdoor Hex dump History sniffing Honeypot (computing)Host-based intrusion detection system ILOVEYOU Information risk management Information security Information security management Information warfare Infostealer Insecure direct object reference Internet Engineering Task Force Internet bot Internet security Intrusion detection system John Brunner (novelist)John Shoch Keystroke logging Linux malware List of HyperCard viruses List of computer worms Logic bomb MacOS malware Macro virus Malware Man-in-the-browser Man-in-the-middle attack Microsoft Microsoft Windows Misuse case Mobile malware Mobile security Morris worm Multi-factor authentication Mydoom Nachi worm Network security Network switch Nimda Nullroute OSI model Obfuscation (software)Palm OS viruses Patch Tuesday Payload (computing)Payload (software)Phishing Polymorphic engine Privacy-invasive software Privilege escalation Ransomware Ray Tomlinson Reaper (program)Recursion (computer science)Remote access trojan Request for Comments Robert Tappan Morris Rogue security software Roku OS Rootkit Router (computing)Runtime application self-protection SIMATIC WinCC SQL injection Santy Scareware Secure by design Secure coding Security-focused operating system Security information and event management Self-replicating machine Shared folder Shellcode Site isolation Social engineering (security)Software bug Spamming Spanning tree Spyware Stuxnet TCP Wrapper Technical support scam The Guardian The Shockwave Rider Threat (computer)Time bomb (software)Timeline of computer viruses and worms Trojan horse (computing)VBScript Voice phishing Vulnerability (computer security)Vulnerability (computing)WannaCry Web shell Web threat Welchia Windows Wiper (malware)Worm (disambiguation)Worm memory test Write once read many XSS worm Xerox Alto Xerox PARC Zero-day attack Zip bomb Zombie (computer science)Zombie (computing)Zombie computers

2 concepts already in your glossary