Difference Between a Worm Virus & a Trojan Horse Virus

Harmful computer software is an unfortunate fact of life. It takes a number of forms, each with its own characteristic plan of attack. Computers running Windows are susceptible to these threats while Apple computers are usually considered to be immune. If you're an Apple user, the "usually" part of the previous sentence should be of some concern.

Virus

A computer virus is a malicious set of computer codes intended to infect particular computers. It is commonly propagated via a computer program.

Worm

A worm isn't computer-specific. It generally travels through computer networks to cause havoc. A computer worm does replicate itself but, unlike a virus, a worm can usually propagate independently of other programs or human actions.

Trojan Horse

The chief difference between a Trojan Horse and a virus is that a Trojan Horse does not replicate itself. A virus does.

Misnomer

By definition, there is no such thing as a "Trojan Horse Virus." There's either a virus or a Trojan Horse but not a hybrid as far as we know. That could change.

Malware

This is a general term that refers to viruses, worms, Trojan Horses and other types of harmful computer software. Attackers will undoubtedly invent new types in the future.

Protection

There is software on the market to protect your computer from malware. Since malware producers are constantly creating new threats, anti-malware programs must be continually updated too.