Removal of Computer Worms

• The removal of computer worms can be specific with instructions given how to remove worms from the computer and how to prevent infection. These are usually issued when the danger of the worm is large and no antivirus definitions are readily available.
• Antivirus and other removal tools are the best solution to this menace
• Antivirus sites offer removal tools for specific worms and viruses. If you know what is infecting your system or network you could download the code from these sites.
• Firewalls are good but some worms have penetrated this defense. Configuration of your firewall can be done by going to some good sites for it.

Damage

• The most dangerous aspect of worms is that they are stealthy and the user does not know that his privacy has been compromised.
• Worms have a greater reach by using the internet as their means of transmission. By doing this they consume network bandwidth.
• If the amount of replication is quite large it can slow the internet down considerably. Mydoom worm is an instance of this. If a server is infected then the worm basically consumes its bandwidth and many times results in a denial of service (DoS) attack.
• Some worms encrypt files. These are used by criminals for extortion. Your entire files are encrypted and they demand payment for the password.
• Sometimes brute force attacks are used to gain password of the encrypted files you are sending over the network.
• Many worms use brute force attacks to gain entry to the server as a remote login.
• Some worms carry another payload and this can be a Trojan horse or a virus.
• Most of the damage is loss to the commerce industry.
• Spammers and hacker use worms and create a botnet to advertise.
• Some worms do the work of phishing. Once your bank and credit card passwords and PIN are gained the hacker sells them for a price and your account is made use of for various purchases.

Prevention

• The best way of prevention is keeping away from attachments in emails.
• Knowledge of what file extensions are dangerous helps a lot in identifying the potentially dangerous files that can be worms, Trojans or viruses. Email clients hide extensions so enable extensions to see what file you are opening.
• Operating System and application patches are available on company websites. These are to plug the existing loopholes and vulnerabilities that have been used in the past or exploited for a backdoor entry onto your system.
• Get a good antivirus and keeps it definitions up to date

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