Difference Between a Virus, a Trojan, a Worm and a Rootkit

 

There are thousands of technical phrases used in computer security, many of which are difficult to explain in layman's terms, which is why they are frequently misused. When it comes to viruses, malware, worms, and other similar terms, a non-technical person refers to them as viruses.

The article explains how they are different from one another 

1. Virus

A virus is a program that reproduces itself into other  programs and files usually with malicious intent.  You may be asking yourself, how do I know if I’ve been infected with a virus? The symptoms of a computer being infected with a virus are as follows: high CPU utilization, lost hard drive space, corrupted data, private information compromised, and pop-ups to name a few.

2. Malware

The two most common ways that malware accesses your system are the Internet and email. So basically, anytime you’re connected online, you’re vulnerable .Malware  is a software which is specifically written with the intent to harm. 

3. Worm

Worms are similar to the Virus, but a worm doesn’t need a host program to execute itself, worms are the standalone program. It uses a computer network to spread itself, and it relies on network loophole and security failure to travel from one host to another automatically and usually don’t requires user intervention. Since worms don’t require any initiation they can spread speedily across the network, infecting every PC in their path.

4. Trojan

Trojan is another kind of malware which looks harmless, but it contains malicious code which creates a backdoor that allows your PC to be controlled remotely. You might think you’ve received an email from someone you know and click on what looks like a legitimate attachment. But you’ve been fooled. The email is from a cybercriminal, and the file you clicked on  and downloaded and opened has gone on to install malware on your device. When you execute the program, the malware can spread to other files and damage your computer.

5. Rootkit

Rootkits are probably the most dangerous form of malware in existence. It’s not one piece of malware, but a collection (hence “kit”) of applications that are installed on a system. Together these applications take over control of the computer at a low level. A “low level” means at the level of the operating system itself, letting the creator of the rootkit do absolutely anything they’d like to the computer system and its data.

One of the reasons that rootkits are so dangerous is how hard they are to detect. Since the rootkit is at least as powerful as the operating system itself,. Rootkit detection and removal usually involves using a specialized bootable USB drive that prevents the installed operating system from loading in the first place before it scrubs the rootkit clean.

Conclusion

Never install any kind of crack keygen or pirated software, beware while visiting torrent, porn, gambling and other sensitive sites. Always keep your system updated with latest security patches and make sure the firewall is turned ON. While installing freeware keep an eye on what else they are offering apart from main software, do not click next and next too fast during installation.