Worm bait?

[Jeff Kinz]

On Tue, Aug 19, 2003 at 09:13:26PM -0400, ron.peterson at yellowbank.com wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 19, 2003 at 08:33:34PM -0400, Robert L Krawitz wrote:
> 
> > I've received a ton of these today.  I think that the latest worm de
> > l'heur is particularly aggressive at scanning systems for email
> > addresses and randomly using one as the sender.
> 
> Terminology question.  What's a 'worm' vs. 'virus' vs. 'trojan horse'
> etc.  Wouldn't the current spate of spam more properly be attributed to
> a virus?  Is there a strict definition for these things?  I know what
> /I/ think they mean, but I've seen these terms bandied about so loosly
> lately that I'm not sure if I'm crazy, or if everybody else is crazy.

Virus - uses the host's "cells" to reproduce and re-infect others
(Virus places its own code inside existing executables on the infected
host)

Worm - travels from system to system, like the parasitic worms dogs (and
some people) get.  Worms don't modify existing executables, but they do
make copies of themselves on the infected hosts.

Some malware could be said to be both worm-like and virus-like.
(most viri have worm-like features, but not all worms have viri-like
features)

Trojan - any program described to be benign or beneficial but actually
a worm or virus in disguise.  See "Trojan Wars".


> 
> -- 
> Ron Peterson                   -o)
> 87 Taylor Street               /\\
> Granby, MA  01033             _\_v
> https://www.yellowbank.com/   ---- 



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Jeff Kinz, Open-PC, Emergent Research,  Hudson, MA.  jkinz at kinz.org
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