Viruses, worms, Trojans… – What are the differences? (Help Center)

At Mimikama we repeatedly warn about various dangers on the Internet, such as emails that contain a Trojan or a virus. But what exactly do these pests actually do? We explain that to you here!

worms

This is what small programs are called that can reproduce themselves, i.e. copy themselves independently. They are not harmful in themselves, they just take up disk space and slow down Internet speeds as they constantly try to copy themselves to other computers. One of the best-known worms was called “Code Red” and its copying frenzy took 359,000 websites offline.

Viruses

These programs also copy themselves, but also have the intention of damaging files on the computer. Viruses can attach themselves to executable files, but even to MP3s, i.e. music files, which is a good reason to avoid illegal music from the Internet.

Trojans

These small programs get their name from the legend of Troy.
In ancient Greece, Greeks were said to have hidden in a huge wooden horse, which was intended as a gift for Troy, in order to conquer Troy. This is exactly how Trojans work. They do not harm the computer directly, but sneak in secretly and open the gates for other malicious programs, which are then downloaded and installed by the computer in the background.

Adware

You probably know many free programs that you can download from the Internet. However, many of them are not as free as they seem, because some apparently free programs are financed by displayed advertising. They do not damage the PC, but they monitor surfing behavior and then display corresponding advertising in the software.

Spyware

This also often comes with free software. In contrast to more harmless adware, this one goes one step further: it also spies on other personal data, such as the email address, and sends the data to an anonymous server or user, who can then use the data, for example Sending phishing emails.

Spam

You all know that: emails from unknown senders that contain some kind of advertising. These emails, which are called “spam” based on an old Monty Python sketch, are sent en masse to tens of thousands of users at the same time, because out of 100,000 users there are always at least one or two who respond to the advertising, and then it goes away The effort for the senders is already worth it. Such emails often also contain worms or viruses.

bots

This is the short form for robots.
This is the name given to automated processes that execute commands on the computer without the user having to do anything. Such bots are often used by hackers to attack or hack servers. For example, a hacker can use small programs with just a few clicks to force all PCs infected with a specific bot to access a specific website without the user noticing. The website then often cannot process the access of tens of thousands of users at the same time and goes offline. This is called a bot network, and this type of attack is called a DDoS attack (Distributed Denial of Service).

Ransomware

These programs take your computer or smartphone hostage: They pretend to be from the police, claim, for example, that child pornography was found on the device, and demand that you pay a certain amount of money (usually around 100 euros) using Paysafe to unlock the computer again. Some of these programs also encrypt personal data so that only a professional can free the computer from this blackmail software and decrypt the data.

Scareware

Such programs want to scare you. But not with a BUH!, but with the warning that there are so many viruses and Trojans on your PC or smartphone and that you absolutely have to install a certain program to eliminate these pests. However, the downloaded programs are usually useless and often contain Trojans or viruses.

How can I prevent such programs on my PC?

In principle, the duty of care applies:
keep your operating system up-to-date, only use original software, use a good antivirus program and a firewall, for example from our partner Kaspersky , and do not open emails from unknown senders, especially not emails that your email provider has moved it to the spam folder from the start, do not click on any unknown links from dubious sources.

Then the PC stays clean.

You are never too old to learn!

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