Computer Worm: What is It and How is It Different From a Virus

Computer security gives us the need to learn a whole new vocabulary of crime. In this note, we tell you everything you need to know about computer worms in the system.

If you are a person who moderately uses computers, to work, communicate, make transfers, or simply for entertainment, probably at some point you heard about the attacks of "computer worms ".

This is not a terrarium inside the computer, but they have the potential to cause much more serious damage and you have to learn about it to detect them in time and stop their spread.

This type of cybercrime that hackers perpetuate is not about living beings that are generated by the lack of physical cleanliness in the computer, but it is a type of malware that meets certain independence and demands that you take active measures that may involve formatting of the whole team.

Computer worms, unlike viruses, have the property of duplicating themselves. To do this, this type of malware makes use of the automatic functions of operating systems, which are normally invisible to users, and thus can act without being perceived.

In this way, computer worms can spread throughout the network and spread from computer to computer without the need for a user to intervene in the process, as this step is required in a virus attack.

As we have mentioned on other occasions, a computer virus needs an unsuspecting user to install itself on a computer, by clicking on a link, by sharing a file, etc. However, worms do not need to alter program files, instead, they reside in RAM memory and duplicate themselves causing problems on the network.

How Do Computer Worms Operate?

Once installed in the operating system, as we already mentioned, the computer worm has the ability to replicate itself. In this way, the computer becomes a sender of hundreds or thousands of copies of the same worm, creating damage that grows in a staggered manner between the affected computers.

For this reason, it is said that computer worms can cause even more serious damage than viruses and can be detected by an unusual slow process in the Internet connection. This is because thanks to the way they operate, they usually cause the equipment to consume a lot of bandwidth.

What Are the Main Differences Between Computer Worms and Viruses?

To explain it in a synthetic way, here we list the 4 main characteristics that differentiate computer worms from viruses :

Computer worms replicate themselves without requiring the mediation of a user who is the driver of malware, as is the case with viruses.

The worms cause the Internet connection to be slower since by taking the computer as a transmitter over the network, it produces a large consumption of bandwidth.

Viruses, unlike computer worms, concentrate their attack on corrupting certain files on computers.

Computer worms require a computer network to establish an army of malware senders that will send copies of it to other terminals on the network, without the need for the equipment operator to intervene in this process.

Where Do Computer Worms Come From?

The first computer worm in history was known as the "Morris worm", which infected a large part of the servers active up to that time in 1988. The name of this worm was given after identifying the programmer who perpetrated it: Roberto Tappan Morris.

The computer expert was sentenced to three years in prison for this crime for "demonstrating the deficiencies of the current security measures in computer networks by exploiting the security flaws that he had discovered."

Morris's discovery and attack alerted major computer security companies to develop the first firewalls to block unauthorized access by computer worms.

With information, we are better prepared!

To prevent our computer from being infected with a computer worm it is important to always have both the antivirus and the operating systems updated. This will allow us to access the security barriers developed to stop the attack of the latest innovations by cybercriminals.

In the same way, if you suspect that a computer worm has invaded your computer, it is necessary to carry out a complete cleaning, which includes a reset of the operating system and the elimination of all files of doubtful origin.

For more information, we invite you to read in this blog about the information security keys that you have to know and how to carry out the correct protection of your company's data.

In terms of security, the information will always be the key to being able to provide good protection and combat cybercrime.