Worm bait?

[nmeyers at javalinux.net (nmeyers at javalinux.net)]

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.

Your understanding of these terms is probably correct. Take a look under
the "Types of threat" heading at this page:

  http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/refa.html

for some brief and clear explanations. A threat doesn't always fit neatly
into one of the categories, which is one reason for the confusion.

Nathan Meyers
nmeyers at javalinux.net