In the same way that having worms in your body is harmful to your health, having a computer worm in your equipment can’t be good news. Since we aren’t doctors, we can’t tell you anything about biological worms, but we can talk to you about computer worms.
How to prevent computer worms, that is something we can discuss, and that is just what we’ll do in this essay. A computer worm is what? What sort of harm can it cause? How do we get rid of it? All of it will be addressed right here.
What is a computer worm and how to prevent it?
WHAT IS A WORM IN A COMPUTER?
A computer worm is by definition a form of malware. What makes it most distinctive? the capacity for rapid spread without human involvement.
It is one of the most terrifying types of malware because once it enters your computer viruses, smartphone, or tablet, it starts to duplicate itself.
So, how does one stop a worm from spreading through a computer system?
The following precautions can lessen the risk of infection from computer worms: Download and apply all available operating systems and software patches. To prevent harmful programs from entering your system, install a firewall. Anti-virus software should be used to halt the execution of harmful programs.
A COMPUTER WORM: HOW DOES IT WORK?
Computer worms are a sort of malware that can destroy your devices in several ways in trojan horses. Some merely self-replicate to the point where they consume system memory and storage disk space, rendering your device useless.
How to prevent computer worms
Others change or remove files, and some even add other dangerous applications. Additionally, given the rapid spread of computer worms or pc worms, hackers may program them to set up backdoor programs that grant them access to their targets’ devices. An illustration is the infamous WannaCry worm, sometimes known as WannaCryptor.
HOW DO WORMS SPREAD?
System flaws are exploited to prevent computer worms to spread more quickly. It can move from one device to another using a variety of channels, including local area networks, malicious links, and email attachments (LAN).
Here are the principal methods through which computer worms spread:
- The internet is a convenient superhighway for computer worms to spread because the majority of devices connect to it through a network. To prevent computer worm can propagate to more devices over the LAN once it has infected one device.
- Emails: Have you ever received a dubious link or attachment in an email from an unknown sender? Some hackers use this method to propagate software, such as worms. Additionally, some worms can cause email clients like Outlook to send emails containing malware windows update to recipients on their own.
- Platforms for peer-to-peer file sharing: It’s really impossible to detect if a file you’re downloading from one of these platforms has malware unless you know where it came from. Worms can therefore easily spread across such platforms.
- Instant messaging: Much like malicious email attachments, instant messages may contain computer worms that seem to be links or attachments that are safe to open in social media.
- Smartphones: Because we frequently link our phones to different Wi-Fi networks, which could hasten the spread of worms, smartphones make excellent worm carriers.
- Removable drives: If inserted into an infected computer, a flash drive or a removable hard disk may become infected. When connected to other computers, infected detachable drives can then propagate the worm to a computer network.
- Installer downloads: Are you trying to steal a piece of software? Be cautious since malicious software installers may be available for download from phishing websites.
- Torrent: You might believe you’re downloading “The Avengers: Infinity War” illegally from a pirated copy, but it might actually be a worm. The basic message is that when torrenting non-copyrighted content, avoid pirating anything and always utilize a VPN.
- IoT devices: It’s unset vulnerability thing to consider the potential that our smart home appliances could turn against us, but researchers say it’s a genuine possibility. Researchers have successfully weaponized a single smart bulb to infect nearby Zigbee IoT devices with a computer worm in a controlled environment.
How to remove virus from a computer without antivirus? (Easy Method!)
THE HARM CAUSED BY COMPUTER WORMS
Over the past few decades, computer worms have cost billions of dollars in damages. When it originally appeared in 2004 the MyDoom worm alone resulted in around $38.5 billion in economic losses.
It targeted commercial websites, resulting in a significant slowdown in services, congestion of the bandwidth, delays in productivity, and a general loss of business.
End users like us can also be harmed by computer worms. Worms can alter or erase our data, prevent us from accessing crucial directories, or negatively impact the functionality of our computers, depending on their payload, the piece of code that carries out the malware’s malicious intent.
Even worse, some hackers utilize worms to steal information, which can result in identity theft in the computer system. We must therefore take every precaution to safeguard ourselves from computer worms.
EXAMPLES OF FAMOUS COMPUTER WORMS
The frightening part is that several of the significant computer worm attacks from the past still exist today in malicious programs.
For instance, 16 years after its formation, the MyDoom worm is still actively distributing itself through email attachments; if it were a child, it would be driving by now! Other computer worms that have previously done substantial harm include the following:
- The first computer worm to have an effect on the real world was the Morris worm. The file-sharing worms were unintentionally produced in 1988 by a computer science student, and they crashed many of the 6,000 systems it impacted.
- WannaCry/WannaCryptor: In 2017, the WannaCry worm demanded a ransom in order to decrypt the files of Windows users. Ransomware was distributed by a worm.
- The ILOVEYOU worm, also known as the “Love Bug” or “Love Letter Worm,” propagated through emails in 2000 by impersonating a love letter attachment. Over 10 million machines were affected by it.
- The first computer worm to alter legitimate websites to provide malicious downloads was called Nimda. Mass emails were used to distribute it, and after that, it started replicating through LANs.
- Code Red: Using infected computers, the Code Red worm launched a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack against the American White House. The White House and its web servers had to change IP addresses as a result of this attack in safe mode.
- I only want to say LOVE YOUR SAN and Billy Gates, why do you make this possible? were the two messages that the Blaster initially displayed when fired. Fix your software and stop making money! As a byproduct, it compelled computers to shut down.
- The Sobig worm came in a variety of forms, ranging from Sobig. A thorough Sobig. With typical subject lines like “Thank You” or “Re: Details,” it spread via email attachment. The virus sent 20 or more emails to the user’s contacts after infecting a machine to find its next victim in personal information.
- Worms known as the “Jerusalem/BlackBox” devoured computer resources. Any software that ran on Friday the 13th of any year was wiped when it was activated. Additionally, it continuously contaminated.exe files until they became too big for the computer to manage.
COMPUTER WORMS’ HISTORY
Over time, computer worms have changed. What began as a straightforward programming error made by a computer science student has evolved into a lethal hacking tool.
1. The Worm That Caused Everything
The very first computer worm to have an effect on the real world was the Morris worm (also known as The Worm), which caused mayhem in 1988.
The Morris worm, so named after its developer Robert Morris, was a piece of software that preyed on the flaws in email protocols at the time. it’s objective? to draw attention to draw attention to network problems.
The worm, however, proved to be more contagious than Morris had anticipated. It compromised about 6,000 of the 60,000 internet-connected PCs at the time in less than 24 hours.
What’s worse is that a programming error caused the malware to rapidly reproduce itself to the point where the infected machines were rendered useless. The Morris worm ultimately succeeded in exposing network flaws because it garnered a lot of media attention.
Yet at what price? In terms of money, U.S. According to the Government Accountability Office, the Morris worm may have cost up to $10 million in damages. Ouch!
2. Jokes With Computer Worms
Following the Morris worm incident, hackers employed computer worms for practical jokes for a while. For instance, on Christmas Eve 1988, the Father Christmas worm sent pleasantries over NASA’s network.
Despite being innocuous, the worm forced NASA to tighten its network security controls, which is a positive thing. Three weeks later, a similar computer worm attack was prevented thanks to the protections they put in place.
Computer worms, however, become more troublesome during the ensuing decades. Like the Father Christmas worm in 1999, the Happy99 worm disseminated over emails and flashed a New Year’s message.
However, it changed system files in the background. Similar computer worms proliferated in the early 2000s; some of them had the power to delete or edit files, steal passwords, alter websites, or even disseminate political ideologies.
3. Cybercriminals And Computer Worms
Cybercriminals eventually discovered a method to profit from computer worms, frequently at the expense of unwary users.
For instance, the aforementioned WannaCry outbreak contained ransomware that encrypted locked users out of their machines unless they paid a ransom.
On the other hand, some computer worms are just designed to harm. One such is the Code Red worm, which directed a DDoS assault against the American White House and ultimately had its servers change IP addresses.
COMPUTER WORMS: TYPES
The way that computer worms spread is typically used to classify them. The many kinds are as follows:
- Internet worms: An internet worm uses the LAN to hop from one device to another. One machine is initially compromised, after which it spreads to further vulnerable devices linked to the same internet connection.
- Email worms: An email worm poses as an attachment to an email. It can originate from a spam email or a contact who has a compromised computer. Even if it’s not always the case, you can know it’s a worm if the attachment has more than one file extension, like “. mp4.exe.” The ILOVEYOU worm is an illustration of an email worm.
- File-sharing worms: As the name implies, a file-sharing worm originates from peer-to-peer file-sharing systems. While you might believe the file you’re downloading is media or a software installation, it may actually be a computer worm that will start acting maliciously as soon as it gets into your system.
- Instant messaging (IM) worms: Similar to email worms, IM worms pose as a file attachment or a link exchanged over an IM network. In other cases, they even include clever clickbait like “This will blow your mind” or “LOL kitty” in an effort to get IM users to accidentally click on them and download the worm.
CONCLUSION
Like all forms of malware, worms may do a lot of harm. Because a computer worm spreads more quickly than other types of malware, it is particularly harmful.
Because of this, it’s essential to understand the signs of worm infection and how to get rid of worms. The greatest defense against worms, though, is still to install a reliable antivirus program. So, if you don’t already have one, we strongly advise that you do so immediately.
References:
https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/what-is-a-computer-worm
Frequently Asked Questions
How can computer worms be stopped?
The threat of computer worm infestations can be reduced with the use of the following precautions: Install software patches and operating system updates. To shield computers from harmful software, use firewalls. To stop harmful software from running, use antivirus software.
How does a computer get a worm?
Software flaws can be the source of worm transmission. Alternatively, computer worms might be sent as attachments in unsolicited emails or instant conversations (IMs). When these files are opened, they could connect to a malicious website or launch the computer worm automatically.
How do computer worms spread?
First, phishing emails, malware downloads, or social engineering scams are used to spread computer worms. Following the initial intrusion, they replicate themselves and spread to the networks and systems connected to the initial victim. From there, they spread via security flaws in software and operating systems.