How do you know that your computer is infected with worms? In addition to exhausting the system resources, the computer worm allows hackers to open a backdoor and enables them to take complete control over the system. Some types of worms are created to occupy the entire system resources and therefore overloading the shared network.
Worms can alter and remove files and can also infect the system with any other new malware on your computer. By this way the worm finds its way to enter into the system without the user’s knowledge.
When the user opens the attachment or the link, it instantly downloads the malware (worm) into the system or gets directed to malicious website. Hackers send phishing emails or instant messages with malicious attachments.
Worm virus protection software#
Worms are passed on to the targeted system through software vulnerabilities.
How Worm Virus Work and Infect your Computers? In certain cases, worms use an attractive phishing element as a bait to trick users and run the malware code. Once worms get downloaded, they exploit the security weakness found in any of the outdated software on the device. The infection is transmitted through data transport features, email attachments, file-sharing networks, etc. Unlike other viruses, worms operate all by themselves and don’t require any host computer. Therefore, the servers, networks and devices that are infected by worms gets overloaded and stop to respond.
Worm virus protection Pc#
The worm might also delete important files to make room for additional copies of itself.Īdditionally, the worm might be equipped with a payload - this might be to open a backdoor to the PC for hackers or to implant additional malware to steal sensitive information like usernames and passwords, or to use the computer as part of a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack.A worm uses large amount of computer memory. This can be destructive on its own because, in time, it will consume all available system resources and storage space. Strictly speaking, that's all the worm does - any malicious activity would be a result of the worm's "payload." Some worms have no malicious "payload" at all and simply replicate themselves. Worms might also be able to infect any device that connects to that computer automatically. Some are programmed to automatically infect any computer on the same local network. Less commonly, worms can be installed if you visit a compromised website and click a link that activates the worm.Īfter the worm has been installed on your computer, it goes to work making copies of itself. A worm can be embedded in a compromised email attachment or link within the message and often comes as part of a phishing scheme, where the infected file is masquerading as something legitimate, like a document or spreadsheet. The primary vectors of infection are email and websites. Like any malware, a computer worm requires a human being to initiate the infection. It's similar to a virus, but a worm is somewhat more sophisticated, able to proliferate without any human intervention. Malware that, once it has infected a computer, continues to replicate itself on the infected computer as well as automatically infecting other computers it comes in contact with.