{"id":538,"date":"2023-04-12T08:25:55","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T08:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dataprot.net\/?p=538"},"modified":"2023-07-14T07:49:37","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T07:49:37","slug":"difference-between-virus-and-worm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dataprot.net\/guides\/difference-between-virus-and-worm\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Main Difference Between a Worm and a Virus?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Having antimalware software and a firewall to protect our devices from every type of malware is essential. Still, one of the most common ways people fail to protect themselves is by never updating their operating system (OS), thus leaving it vulnerable to attacks. It\u2019s one of the essential steps that often gets overlooked even by major companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main difference between a worm and a virus is how they self-replicate<\/strong>. As soon as it breaches the system, a worm will spread through the network independently<\/a> and infect devices on its path without users realizing what is happening. In contrast, the user has to trigger the virus by interacting with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Worms and viruses also have some similarities. Both are extremely contagious and capable of copying themselves rapidly<\/strong>. When it comes to viruses and worms, it\u2019s safe to say that you don\u2019t want any of them infecting your system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because a virus needs to be run from an executable file, cybercriminals will usually employ phishing attacks to infect their targets<\/strong>. Work emails titled \u201cPlease review\u201d are common in the office, and all it takes is one employee to fall for a fake email like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The email will have an attachment that holds the virus. Nothing will happen until the user triggers the virus by opening the file, and once triggered, it will start to spread and self-replicate throughout the system. A computer virus can also use a newly infected host to send out emails with copies of itself<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned before, the difference between a virus and a worm is how they self-replicate throughout the computer network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The worm doesn\u2019t require a user to activate it, as it exploits system vulnerabilities to infect machines through the network <\/strong>as soon as it breaches the network for the first time. It can also be deployed from a file downloaded to the user’s machine while visiting an infected website. Once it infects the PC, the worm will scan the network and start spreading to all the devices on the network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What often happens in a worm-based infection is that a worm will install backdoors on all the machines it gets in contact with. Then, the cybercriminal will use them to launch an attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\nComputer Worm vs. Virus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n