Malware: Fighting Malicious Code

The Coming Superworms

…the play is the tragedy, “Man,”

And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

—Edgar Allen Poe, “The Conqueror Worm,” 1843

Malicious worms are quickly evolving, increasing their abilities to spread and cause damage. We've recently seen major innovations in worm technology, with newer worms spreading more maliciously and efficiently than ever, with optimized warheads, targeting selection algorithms, and propagation mechanisms. Over the last several years, someone has unleashed a new worm every two to six months with an extra evolutionary twist to confound our defenses. At the rate we're going, we will soon be facing so-called superworms that could potentially disable the Internet or otherwise wreak serious havoc. Although past worms ...