Trojan and Worm Viruses

Worm and trojan horse viruses can cause serious damage to your computer.

Computer viruses spread from computer to computer. They can infect the data and may either delete it or corrupt the information. Two specific types of viruses include worms and Trojan horse viruses.

Worm

A worm is a program that will reproduce and email itself to all of your contacts, according to North Carolina State University. It can corrupt or delete your programs and files, as well as threaten the security of your computer. It is usually received as an email attachment.

Trojan Horse

A Trojan horse is typically attached to an email as well, but it does not copy itself. It also can damage your computer and present a security risk.

Signs

According to Microsoft, worms and Trojan horse viruses are often in the form of a funny image, video, joke or greeting card. Once opened, the virus infects your computer.

Symptoms

Some of the symptoms of a virus include a slow computer, failure to respond or locking up, restarting on its own and applications not working correctly.

Protection

Microsoft recommends using up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spy-ware software to protect your computer from viruses.

References

• North Carolina State University: Ethics in Computing
• Microsoft: Computer Viruses