Privacy, Security & Virus Information
Getting off the hook when you catch a worm
So your computer has hooked a worm and it’s wriggling round in your hard drive – what exactly is a ‘worm’ and is the worm likely to cause any damage?
A worm is a small standalone software program deliberately written to cause harm to a computer.
A worm is not a virus – a virus infects and manipulates files. Worms are generally triggered when you open a spam email or visit a web site and click a link. They replicate and then look for ways to spread to other computers across the web.
Typically a worm will activate, reproduce and then open your email address book and send a message to everyone listed. One of the new worms will hitch a ride on the email to the new computer, and when someone clicks on your message in their inbox, the whole process kicks off again.
If your computer is not connected to the internet, the worm will lie dormant until you log on to your email, browser or a chat program. As soon as they activate, they will piggyback your outgoing connection to try and reach another computer.
The havoc these worms cause is almost benign compared to some of the more complex worms lurking in cyberspace now. Worms won’t physically damage your computer but their attacks are becoming more sophisticated and include:
DoS attacks happen when a server is taken over from the outside or overwhelmed by incoming connections that crash the server.
Phishing is when scammers send out a worm that records usernames and passwords and sends them back to the code writer. The worm writer then sells your details to a hacker who tries to access and clean out your bank account.
The name comes from the Trojan horse of legend. The worm hides in side a ‘good’ program, comes to life and burrows in to your hard drive. The Trojan converts your computer in to a ‘zombie’ controlled by a hacker. The hacker makes your computer in to a staging post for sending out spam carrying more worms and malware, often without your knowledge.
Often, users don’t know worms infect their computers. A clue is sometimes a worm slows your machine down by eating memory, although lots of other computer problems can cause the symptoms as well.
Guard your system against worms by installing anti-virus software and make sure you update to the latest protection file every time you switch on your machine or set the software to automatically download and install the updates for you.
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