Art of Computer Virus Research and Defense, The

Chapter 9. Strategies of Computer Worms

“ Worm: n., A self-replicating program able to propagate itself across network, typically having a detrimental effect.”

—Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Revised Tenth Edition

9.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses the generic (or at least “typical”) structure of advanced computer worms and the common strategies that computer worms use to invade new target systems. Computer worms primarily replicate on networks, but they represent a subclass of computer viruses. Interestingly enough, even in security research communities, many people imply that computer worms are dramatically different from computer viruses. In fact, even within CARO (Computer Antivirus Researchers Organization), researchers do not ...