A virus consists of self-propagating program code that’s triggered by a specified time or event. When the program or operating system that contains the virus is used, the virus attaches itself to other files and that’s why it’s a never ending cycle. A worm travels from computer to computer in a network that doesn’t generally erase data. A worm is an independent program that can spread itself without having to be attached to a host program unlike a work which needs a host to continue its cycle. A worm may corrupt data but usually replicates itself into a full blown version that eats up the computers resources ultimately bring the computer or network to a halt. Viruses and worms are the 2 top security threats as they are the most common and effective at getting there desired results.
According to many people Microsoft operating systems make it too easy for them to be attacked. It has been said that “To mess up a Linux box, you need to work at it; to mess up your Windows box, you just need to work on it”, writes SecurityFocus columnist Scott Granneman. Microsoft is more commonly attacked because it’s wide usage whereas linux and mac os are least common but will be prone to attack more as their popularity grows and more people are made aware of the systems and there functions. Mac operating systems are gaining popularity due to there wide