A PC worm is a sort of malware that may unfold from one pc to a different with none person interplay. Worms sometimes exploit vulnerabilities in working techniques or software program to achieve entry to computer systems and unfold their malicious payload. Not like viruses, worms don’t want to connect themselves to a bunch file to duplicate. As a substitute, they’ll unfold independently by exploiting community vulnerabilities and replicating themselves throughout a number of computer systems. PC worms could cause a variety of injury, together with stealing delicate info, disrupting community site visitors, and even taking management of computer systems.
PC worms have been round for many years and have precipitated a number of the most important cyberattacks in historical past. Some of the well-known PC worms is the Morris worm, which was launched in 1988 and contaminated over 6,000 computer systems on the ARPANET. Extra not too long ago, the WannaCry worm precipitated widespread disruption in 2017 by encrypting information on contaminated computer systems and demanding a ransom cost to decrypt them.
