WORMS

Worms are similar to viruses in that they re self replicating. They reproduce themselves across networks without human assistance, such as e-mail sending. A worm, though, doesn't need another executable program to be distributed.

Worms usually affect networks more than individual computers on the network. Their selfreplicating behavior can overload network resources, causing slowdowns in data
transmission by consuming massive bandwidth normally used to forward normal traffic.
Network systems that route Internet traffic are just specialized computer hardware and software. They, too, can be affected by malware.

Worms are malicious programs that spread themselves automatically. Viruses are malicious programs that spread by human intervention such as inserting a fl oppy disk into a computer or double-clicking on an e-mail attachment. Most viruses are spread by convincing the system user to open a malicious attachment. Worms are able to propagate autonomously. Worms spread by exploiting vulnerabilities in a computer system, then using network connectivity to fi nd and attack other vulnerable systems. The lack of user intervention allows worms to spread far faster than viruses.

The term worm was fi rst applied to self-replicating computer programs by John Brunner in the 1975 sci-fi novel, The Shockwave Rider. In the book, a malicious program spreads itself throughout the government’s massive computer system, exposing private data and government secrets. Researchers at Xerox’s famous PARC laboratory fi rst applied the term to real-world, self-spreading programs.

Worms are equally if not more damaging than viruses. Recent worms such as Code Red and Nimda have caused billions of dollars of damage,1 clean-up costs, and loss
of business revenue. Attackers are using worms more frequently, since they can do so much damage so quickly. The fi rst widespread Internet worm appeared in 1988. A
graduate student at Cornell University, Robert Morris, created a worm program that exploited several vulnerabilities and released it to the then-growing Internet. Although Morris claimed that there was no malicious intent behind the worm, and that it was just an “experiment” that went terribly wrong, the Morris worm damaged over 6,000 Internet-connected computers and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in
clean-up costs. As an example of the speed with which worm technology has evolved, consider that Code Red spread over 300,000 computers in just 14 hours.

Worms can also be designed to carry a payload, using a 'backdoor' installation program. A backdoor is a hidden access point to a computer that bypasses the normal login procedure. They're commonly used by spammers to distribute junk e-mail, for example.

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