A worm virus refers to a malicious program that replicates itself, automatically spreading through a network. In this definition of computer worms, the worm virus exploits vulnerabilities in your security software to steal sensitive information, install backdoors that can be used to access the system, corrupt files, and do other kinds of harm.
Worms consume large volumes of memory, as well as bandwidth. This results in servers, individual systems, and networks getting overloaded and malfunctioning. A worm is different from a virus, however, because a worm can operate on its own while a virus needs a host computer. Classifications and Names of Worms
An email-worm refers to a worm that is able to copy itself and spread through files attached to email messages. IM-Worm
worm is a kind of worm that can spread through IM networks. When an IM-worm is operating, it typically finds the address book belonging to the user and tries to transmit a copy of itself to all of the person’s contacts.An IRC-worm makes use of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) networks to send itself over to other host machines. An IRC-worm drops a script into the IRC’s client directory within the machine it infects.
A net-worm refers to a kind of worm that can find new hosts by using shares made over a network. This is done using a server or hard drive that multiple computers access via a local-area network (LAN).
A P2P-worm is spread through peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. It uses the P2P connections to send copies of itself to users.