A computer worm is a software program that is designed to copy itself from one computer to another, without human interaction. Unlike a computer virus, a worm does not need to attach itself to an existing program and can copy itself automatically.
Worms can replicate in great volume. For example, a worm can send out copies of itself to every contact in your e-mail address book, and then it can send itself to all of the contacts in their e-mail address books.[1]
Once installed on a computer, worms spontaneously generate additional email messages contaning copies of the worm. They may also open TCP ports to create networks security holes for other applications, and they may attempt to "flood" the LAN with spurious Denial of Service (DoS) data transmissions.
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