A worm, a virus or a Trojan horse?

We study English discussing actual technical problems

By Pavel Macenauer

Many people often misuse these terms, which may in reality lead to great confusions while discussing this topic. Discrimination the differences between them might help you protect your computer.

What is a virus?

A virus is a malicious program usually hidden in an executable file. It is able to replicate and cause harm only as a consequence of a human action. For example, you´ve just received a suspicious email offering you to earn lots of money simply by filling out a form contained in an executable file. When you open this file, you basically run the virus. It has not only a harmful effect on you computer, but it also adds a copy of itself to every email you send.

What is a worm?

Worms are not very much different from viruses. Some people even consider them to be a subspecies of a virus. Worms take advantage of every piece of contact information in your computer and without any human action they replicate and then cause harm. Usually, they abuse contact information hidden in your email client or your instant messenger.

What is a Trojan horse?

At a first glance, Trojan horses appear as helpful software. Usually, they even mask as virus removal tools. In reality they are designed only to cause harm. The main difference between a horse and a virus or between a horse and a worm is that horses can’t replicate. They are mostly used for tunneling information or for enabling a third party to access your computer.

Many people often misuse these terms, which may in reality lead to great confusions while discussing this topic. Discrimination the differences between them might help you protect your computer.