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]



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World-Wide Web
World-Wide Web browser
World Wide Web Consortium
World-Wide Web Worm
WORM
AIDS
amateur packet radio
Automated Retroactive Minimal Moderation
back door
Computer Emergency Response Team
wormhole
wormhole routing
WOSA
wound around the axle
WPG