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As the security team at Symantec notes, viruses are nasty computer programs designed to travel from file to file within a single computer. Worms, on the other hand, are specifically engineered to travel between computers. This isn't to say that viruses can't travel between computers. Much like a burr on bear fur, viruses hop rides on email attachments sent by humans. Worms, however, are much nastier -- they don't need host programs to propagate. A really bad worm can infect thousands of passively networked computers in a matter of hours. Worms may not damage the individual computers,
but they can definitely jam up a network. Fortunately, they afflict more network administrators than home users. Another variant of computer nasty is the Trojan horse. These pernicious programs are written to disguise their damage. Trojan horses can also carry hidden spyware, so watch out, file traders. It's a dangerous world out there -- safety pays in many ways.
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