Viruses, worms and trojans are all malware. A ‘Malware’ is a malicious software or script that infect your computer and comes in different forms, Although, they are all malware, they attack and spread differently and have different affects on your device. In this article i will focus mainly on the difference between viruses, worms and trojans.

‘Malware‘ is an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software, including computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, scareware, and other malicious programs. Wikipedia – source

Viruses

Computer viruses are softwares or scripts that come as an independent file or attached to another file or program. Most of the time, they are executable files that needs users interaction to activate and spread.

Worms

As viruses requires user’s interaction to trigger, worms on the other hand, they spread automatically and doesn’t attach themselves to a program or a file. As a result worms, as far dangerous than viruses as they can spread fast and cause major damages.

Trojans Horses

Trojans don’t have the same spreading power of both viruses and worms, on the other hand, they are embedded inside a safe looking software that keeps it malicious functionality hidden for silent damage. Usually, trojans are a start point for bigger issues. Hackers tend to use trojans to collect users data, open backdoors or remote access their devices.

A Trojan horse, or Trojan, in computing is any malicious computer program which misrepresents itself to appear useful, routine, or interesting in order to persuade a victim to install it. Wikipedia – source

Now that you know the difference, here is how to protect your computer.

Here are some actions you can take:

1. Install an antivirus program.
2. Don’t open email attachments unless you’re expecting them.
3. Keep your computer updated
4. Use a firewall.‌ Windows Firewall (or any other firewall) can help alert you to suspicious activity if a virus or worm attempts to connect to your computer. – source