A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole.
#New computer worm virus software#
So keep your security updates and virus definitions up-to-date and you should be able to keep your computer worm-free.
#New computer worm virus update#
Security updates such as Windows Update also patch security holes that allow worms to infect your computer. For these reasons, it is good to have an antivirus program installed on your system that can detect and remove worms before they have a chance to replicate or spread to other computers. Unlike viruses and Trojan horses, worms can replicate themselves and travel between systems without any action from the user. They often go unnoticed until your computer begins to slow down or starts having other problems. Worms are hard to detect because they are typically invisible files. If the worm affects your hard disk space, your computer will take a long time to access files and you will not be able to save or create new files until the worm has been eradicated. If a worm consumes your memory, your computer will run very slowly and possibly even crash. However, worms can still cause havoc by multiplying so many times that they take up all your computer's available memory or hard disk space. A computer worm is a type of virus that replicates itself, but does not alter any files on your machine. Just like regular worms tunnel through dirt and soil, computer worms tunnel through your computer's memory and hard drive. One refers to a computer virus and the other is an optical storage technology: Worm has two widely different definitions.