What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

Knowing the Differences Can Help You to Better Protect your Computer

A computer virus attaches itself to a program or file so it can spread from one computer to another, leaving infections as it travels. Much like human viruses, computer viruses can range in severity: Some viruses cause only mildly annoying effects while others can damage your hardware, software or files. Almost all viruses are attached to an executable file, which means the virus may exist on your computer but it cannot infect your computer unless you run or open the malicious program. It is important to note that a virus cannot be spread without a human action, (such as running an infected program) to keep it going. People continue the spread of a computer virus, mostly unknowingly, by sharing infecting files or sending e-mails with viruses as attachments in the e-mail.

A worm is similar to a virus by its design, and is considered to be a sub-class of a virus. Worms spread from computer to computer, but unlike a virus, it has the capability to travel without any help from a person. A worm takes advantage of file or information transport features on your system, which allows it to travel unaided. The biggest danger with a worm is its capability to replicate itself on your system, so rather than your computer sending out a single worm, it could send out hundreds or thousands of copies of itself, creating a huge devastating effect. One example would be for a worm to send a copy of itself to everyone listed in your e-mail address book. Then, the worm replicates and sends itself out to everyone listed in each of the receiver's address book, and the manifest continues on down the line. Due to the copying nature of a worm and its capability to travel across networks the end result in most cases is that the worm consumes too much system memory (or network bandwidth), causing Web servers, network servers and individual computers to stop responding. In more recent worm attacks such as the much-talked-about .Blaster Worm., the worm has been designed to tunnel into your system and allow malicious users to control your computer remotely.

A Trojan horse is not a virus. It is a destructive program that looks as a genuine application. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. Trojans also open a backdoor entry to your computer which gives malicious users/programs access to your system, allowing confidential and personal information to be theft.

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Posted by Sean (Spiceworks) 2020-08-19T18:08:57Z

Hey everyone, we have a daily challenge question for "What type of malware replicates itself from PC to PC throughout the network?" and the options are:

  • Worm
  • Trojan
  • Spyware
  • Scareware/Ransomware

The most correct answer would be "worm" but there is a good debate that technically ransomware could also be a correct answer. I was thinking of changing the last option to Virus instead (removing scareware/ransomware)-but wanted to get some feedback from the professionals before I do anything :)

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  • Ransomware that spreads from PC to PC also makes it a worm by definition. The ransomware component on its own doesn't do this, so I wouldn't think it would be the correct answer at all.

    I support replacing the option with just scareware to reduce confusion, but I honestly don't see much room for debate on ransomware being a correct answer.

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    26 Replies

    • It would be for the best.  Not all ransomware will spread, but they generally do.  Maybe instead of scareware/ransomware, change it to scareware.  Since that is typically pop-up on a machine.

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    • I agree with Jimmy T.  Scareware would be a better answer 4.

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    • Ask: Which answer is most correct

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    • Ransomware that spreads from PC to PC also makes it a worm by definition. The ransomware component on its own doesn't do this, so I wouldn't think it would be the correct answer at all.

      I support replacing the option with just scareware to reduce confusion, but I honestly don't see much room for debate on ransomware being a correct answer.

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    • Ransomware that spreads from PC to PC also makes it a worm by definition. The ransomware component on its own doesn't do this, so I wouldn't think it would be the correct answer at all.

      Exactly.

      Either term describes the main 'feature' of the malware. When the main feature of a worm is crawling trough your network (to replicate itself), the main feature of ransomware is to get a ransom from the victim. To be more effective, worm like behavior might be added, but still the main characteristic of the malware will be the ransom request.

      So for the second part, I wouldn't change anything. It's right just as it is.

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    • I like BGM's response, so, the last option would be one of those "it all depends" - so, yeah, drop the ransomware.

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    • I say worm. But then say that ransomware is using a worm process to propagate. Just as computers use ethernet as the medium in which to communicate.

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    • What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

      I have to agree with the majority in this case, any malicious program that is designed to replicate and distribute itself technically falls under the classification of a worm.

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    • What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

      Worm, but I'd throw DDOS as an obvious not it 

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    • Any virus type can borrow characteristics of another. A ransomware that laterally spread in a network is borrowing worm characteristics.

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    • Big Green Man wrote:

      Ransomware that spreads from PC to PC also makes it a worm by definition. The ransomware component on its own doesn't do this, so I wouldn't think it would be the correct answer at all.

      I support replacing the option with just scareware to reduce confusion, but I honestly don't see much room for debate on ransomware being a correct answer.

      I agree with the Ogre-like-thing

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    • The problem with this question is the terms 'virus', 'trojan', and 'worm' are well defined while the terms 'spyware' and 'ransomware' are not well defined.

      There is spyware that acts as a virus, trojan, worm, ransomware, scareware, rootkit, and more. There is ransomware that also acts as a trojan, a virus, a rootkit, worm, and spyware. There are if something is a worm, it is not a trojan. If something is a trojan, it is not a worm.

      It's sort of like asking a question "What type of transportation device can carry multiple people? A) A bike B) A car C) A truck that carries cars D) A truck that carries bikes"

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    • By definition 'Worm' is the correct answer.  Worms can also be ransomware but not all ransomware is a worm.

      2 found this helpful thumb_up thumb_down

    • thelanranger wrote:

      It's sort of like asking a question "What type of transportation device can carry multiple people? A) A bike B) A car C) A truck that carries cars D) A truck that carries bikes"

      And technically, all four of these^ answers could be correct.  The bicycle could be designed to carry more than one rider.  Or more than one rider may be on a bicycle even though it may only be designed as a single rider bicycle.  What if the car absolutely does not have room to fit more than one occupant, I would think that a Formula 1 race car would fall into this category.

      IMO, both questions in this thread do not have a wrong answer as a choice, nor does either one have a definitively correct answer.

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    • a roaming user,,THAT'S IT

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    • Ransomware could spread in a worm like fashion, BUT that's not what ransomware is.  I don't think ransomware is a correct answer.

      The Wikipedia article for WannaCry describes it as a ransomware cryptoworm, in other words, a type of worm.

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    • Worm seems correct to me

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    • What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

      What type of "malware" replicates spreads itself from PC to PC throughout a network causing chaos, madness, and destruction? 

      An end user.  /s

      I'll see myself out.

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    • I agree with what most others have said - worm would be the best answer, and change number 4 to scareware and take off the ransomeware part.

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    • What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

      Big Worm 

      What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

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    • What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

      Brand Representative for KnowBe4

      chipotle

      Traditionally there are three major types of malware: virus, worm, and trojan. A virus replicates itself into other executables. A worm travels by exploiting other active processes, and a trojan relies upon people being tricked by social engineering to spread. Most malware is a hybrid of two or three of these classes, and most spread using social engineering, worming, and unpatched software. That accounts for the vast majority of malware today. Add in password guessing and you likely have 99% of all malware covered. The only thing not covered would be malware manually spread by a hacker.

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    • What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

      RJKY

      What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

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      cayenne

      Worm is the correct answer ... how it is contracted / spread is the first characteristic of the program. What it does after that is an attribute of the program; encrypting or erasing data. That is just its function.

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    • What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

      enoel

      What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

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      poblano

      thelanranger wrote:

      The problem with this question is the terms 'virus', 'trojan', and 'worm' are well defined while the terms 'spyware' and 'ransomware' are not well defined.

      There is spyware that acts as a virus, trojan, worm, ransomware, scareware, rootkit, and more. There is ransomware that also acts as a trojan, a virus, a rootkit, worm, and spyware. There are if something is a worm, it is not a trojan. If something is a trojan, it is not a worm.

      It's sort of like asking a question "What type of transportation device can carry multiple people? A) A bike B) A car C) A truck that carries cars D) A truck that carries bikes"

      None of the terms you brought up are mutually exclusive.  A trojan is used to penetrate a network/machine and a worm is used to propagate the payload.  Ransomware and/or spyware (which are very well defined) would be the payload.

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    • What type of malicious program is designed to replicate itself to other computers?

      I would say the answer is worm. The other types may or may not spread from machine to machine, but a worm has to spread by definition (if it does not spread, then it cannot be called a worm).

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    • Hello,

      The correct answer is "worm Opens a new window."

      "Ransomware Opens a new window" can be spread from PC to PC throughout the network, however, there are also instances where it targets just a few computers, such as servers.  However, the option given in the bullet list is "Scareware/Ransomware," and as scareware (aka "prank software") is something which needs to be manually installed on a single PC, the combination of these two rules this item out as a valid answer.

      Regards,

      Aryeh Goretsky

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    • Lots of great feedback and info in this topic so I (1) updated the question to have "scareware" as the final option (basically removed ransomware to lessen the confusion) and then (2) referenced this topic for more information.

      Thanks, everyone!

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    A computer worm is a type of malware whose primary function is to self-replicate and infect other computers while remaining active on infected systems. A computer worm duplicates itself to spread to uninfected computers.

    What type of malicious program is designed?

    Malicious tools are malicious programs designed to automatically create viruses, worms, or Trojans, conduct DoS attacks on remote servers, hack other computers, etc.

    What malicious program replicates itself and can transfer by any type of means?

    A virus is the most common type of malware that can execute itself and spread by infecting other programs or files. A worm can self-replicate without a host program and typically spreads without any interaction from the malware authors.

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