worm

<networking, security>

(From "Tapeworm" in John Brunner's novel "The Shockwave Rider", via XEROX PARC) A program that propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes. Compare virus. Nowadays the term has negative connotations, as it is assumed that only crackers write worms.

Perhaps the best-known example was the Great Worm.

Compare Trojan horse.

[Jargon File]

Last updated: 1996-09-17

Nearby terms:

World Wide Web Worm ♦ WORM ♦ worm ♦ wormhole ♦ wormhole routing ♦ WOSA

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