Ask Difference

Worm vs. Trojan — What's the Difference?

By Fiza Rafique & Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 18, 2024
A worm is a type of malware that self-replicates to spread across systems, often causing widespread damage. A Trojan, or Trojan horse, is malware that disguises itself as legitimate software to trick users into installing it.
Worm vs. Trojan — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Worm and Trojan

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Key Differences

A worm is a self-replicating malware that spreads across networks, often without user intervention. It exploits vulnerabilities to propagate rapidly, consuming bandwidth and overloading systems. Conversely, a Trojan horse relies on user deception to install, masquerading as a benign application while hiding malicious intent.
Worms cause damage by overloading networks and systems through their replication process. They can disrupt services and lead to significant data loss. Trojans, however, need to be executed by the user, often embedded in seemingly legitimate files or software, and can steal data, create backdoors, or install additional malicious software.
While worms are standalone programs capable of spreading without any help, Trojans are dependent on user actions to initiate their payload. This makes worms more aggressive in terms of spread, whereas Trojans rely on social engineering techniques to deceive users.
Worms exploit security vulnerabilities to propagate, making them a significant threat to networked systems. In contrast, Trojans typically exploit trust, convincing users to execute them, often bypassing standard security measures through their disguise.
Both worms and Trojans can cause significant damage, but their methods of operation differ. Worms focus on spreading and disrupting systems through sheer volume, while Trojans aim to deceive users into executing harmful actions under the guise of legitimate software.
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Comparison Chart

Propagation Method

Self-replicating across networks
Disguised as legitimate software

User Interaction

Requires no user interaction to spread
Requires user interaction to install

Damage Mechanism

Overloads systems and networks
Steals data, installs backdoors

Dependency

Independent, standalone program
Dependent on user execution

Common Use

Network disruption, data loss
Data theft, unauthorized access

Compare with Definitions

Worm

Malware that spreads across networks by replicating itself.
The worm infected thousands of computers within hours.

Trojan

Appears as legitimate software to deceive users.
The Trojan pretended to be a game installation file.

Worm

Consumes bandwidth and resources.
The worm caused severe network slowdowns.

Trojan

Needs user action to install.
The Trojan was activated when the user opened the email attachment.

Worm

Moves from system to system without user action.
The worm autonomously infected the entire office network.

Trojan

Often used to steal sensitive information.
The Trojan stole login credentials from the infected computer.

Worm

Worms are many different distantly related animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length for marine polychaete worms (bristle worms), 6.7 metres (22 ft) for the African giant earthworm, Microchaetus rappi, and 58 metres (190 ft) for the marine nemertean worm (bootlace worm), Lineus longissimus.

Trojan

Can create a backdoor for unauthorized access.
The Trojan installed a backdoor, allowing remote access.

Worm

Any of various invertebrates, especially an annelid, flatworm, nematode, or nemertean, having a long, flexible, rounded or flattened body, often without obvious appendages.

Trojan

Carries harmful actions hidden behind a benign façade.
The Trojan appeared as a PDF but deleted important files.

Worm

Any of various crawling insect larvae, such as a grub or a caterpillar, having a soft elongated body.

Trojan

A native or inhabitant of ancient Troy.

Worm

Any of various other animals, such as a shipworm or a slowworm, having a long slender limbless body.

Trojan

A person of courageous determination or energy.

Worm

Something, such as the thread of a screw or the spiral condenser in a still, that resembles a worm in form or appearance.

Trojan

A celestial body that is in one of the two stable Lagrangian points of a two-body system, especially an asteroid with solar orbits at Jupiter's distance from the sun, but traveling 60° ahead of or behind the planet.

Worm

The spirally threaded shaft of a worm gear.

Trojan

(computing) Malware that appears to perform or actually performs a desired task for a user while performing a harmful task without the user's knowledge or consent.

Worm

An insidiously tormenting or devouring force
“felt the black worm of treachery growing in his heart” (Mario Puzo).

Trojan

(astronomy) Describing a satellite (moon or minor planet) that shares an orbit with another

Worm

A person regarded as pitiable or contemptible.

Trojan

To infect (a system) with a trojan.

Worm

Worms Medicine Infestation of the intestines or other parts of the body with parasitic worms; helminthiasis.

Trojan

Of or pertaining to ancient Troy or its inhabitants.

Worm

(Computers) A malicious program that replicates itself until it fills all of the storage space on a drive or network.

Trojan

One who shows the pluck, endurance, determined energy, strength, or the like, attributed to the defenders of Troy; - used chiefly or only in the phrase like a Trojan; as, he endured the pain like a Trojan; he studies like a Trojan.
Tim jumped like a Trojan from the bed.

Worm

To make (one's way) with the sinuous crawling motion of a worm.

Trojan

A native of ancient Troy

Worm

To work (one's way or oneself) subtly or gradually; insinuate
She wormed her way into his confidence.

Trojan

A program that appears desirable but actually contains something harmful;
The contents of a trojan can be a virus or a worm
When he downloaded the free game it turned out to be a trojan horse

Worm

To elicit by artful or devious means. Usually used with out of
Wormed a confession out of the suspect.

Trojan

Of or relating to the ancient city of Troy or its inhabitants;
Trojan cities

Worm

To treat for intestinal worms
Wormed the dog.

Worm

(Nautical) To wrap yarn or twine spirally around (rope).

Worm

To move in a manner suggestive of a worm.

Worm

To make one's way by artful or devious means
He can't worm out of this situation.

Worm

A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.

Worm

More loosely, any of various tubular invertebrates resembling annelids but not closely related to them, such as velvet worms, acorn worms, flatworms, or roundworms.

Worm

(archaic) A type of wingless "dragon", especially a gigantic sea serpent.

Worm

Either a mythical "dragon" (especially wingless), a gigantic sea serpent, or a creature that resembles a Mongolian death worm.

Worm

A contemptible or devious being.
Don't try to run away, you little worm!

Worm

(computing) A self-replicating program that propagates through a network.

Worm

(cricket) A graphical representation of the total runs scored in an innings.

Worm

Anything helical, especially the thread of a screw.

Worm

A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.

Worm

The spiral wire of a corkscrew.

Worm

(anatomy) A muscular band in the tongue of some animals, such as dogs; the lytta.

Worm

The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to save space.

Worm

A short revolving screw whose threads drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel or rack by gearing into its teeth.

Worm

(obsolete) Any creeping or crawling animal, such as a snake, snail, or caterpillar.

Worm

(figuratively) An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one’s mind with remorse.

Worm

(math) A strip of linked tiles sharing parallel edges in a tiling.

Worm

(anatomy) The lytta.

Worm

(preceded by definite article) A dance, or dance move, in which the dancer lies on the floor and undulates the body horizontally thereby moving forwards.

Worm

(transitive) To make (one's way) with a crawling motion.
We wormed our way through the underbrush.

Worm

(intransitive) To move with one's body dragging the ground.

Worm

To work one's way by artful or devious means.

Worm

To work (one's way or oneself) (into) gradually or slowly; to insinuate.
He wormed his way into the organization.

Worm

To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means.

Worm

To drag out of, to get information that someone is reluctant or unwilling to give (through artful or devious means or by pleading or asking repeatedly).

Worm

To fill in the contlines of (a rope) before parcelling and serving.
Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.

Worm

(transitive) To deworm (an animal).

Worm

(transitive) To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of (a dog, etc.) for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw, and formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.

Worm

(transitive) To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm.

Worm

A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like.
There came a viper out of the heat, and leapt on his hand. When the men of the country saw the worm hang on his hand, they said, This man must needs be a murderer.
'T is slander,Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongueOutvenoms all the worms of Nile.
When Cerberus perceived us, the great worm,His mouth he opened and displayed his tusks.

Worm

Any small creeping animal or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals; as, an earthworm; the blindworm.

Worm

An internal tormentor; something that gnaws or afflicts one's mind with remorse.
The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul!

Worm

A being debased and despised.
I am a worm, and no man.

Worm

Anything spiral, vermiculated, or resembling a worm
The threads of screws, when bigger than can be made in screw plates, are called worms.

Worm

A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.

Worm

To work slowly, gradually, and secretly.
When debates and fretting jealousyDid worm and work within you more and more,Your color faded.

Worm

To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; - often followed by out.
They find themselves wormed out of all power.
They . . . wormed things out of me that I had no desire to tell.

Worm

To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of, as a dog, for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw. The operation was formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
The men assisted the laird in his sporting parties, wormed his dogs, and cut the ears of his terrier puppies.

Worm

To wind rope, yarn, or other material, spirally round, between the strands of, as a cable; to wind with spun yarn, as a small rope.
Ropes . . . are generally wormed before they are served.

Worm

Any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied animals especially of the phyla Annelida and Chaetognatha and Nematoda and Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many insect larvae

Worm

A person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect

Worm

A software program capable of reproducing itself that can spread from one computer to the next over a network;
Worms take advantage of automatic file sending and receiving features found on many computers

Worm

Screw thread on a gear with the teeth of a worm wheel or rack

Worm

To move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling);
The prisoner writhed in discomfort
The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's embrace

Worm

Uses security flaws to spread.
The worm exploited an unpatched vulnerability.

Worm

Can cause significant operational disruptions.
The worm disrupted business operations for days.

Common Curiosities

What is a Trojan horse in computing?

A Trojan horse is malware disguised as legitimate software, tricking users into installing it, often leading to data theft or system compromise.

How does a worm spread?

Worms spread autonomously by exploiting security vulnerabilities in networked systems, without needing user intervention.

How does a Trojan infect a system?

Trojans infect systems when users are deceived into executing them, often believing they are installing legitimate software.

Can Trojans be detected easily?

Trojans can be harder to detect since they masquerade as legitimate software, requiring careful scrutiny of downloaded files.

What is a worm?

A worm is a type of malware that replicates itself to spread across networks, often causing significant damage by overloading systems.

What kind of damage can worms cause?

Worms can cause network slowdowns, system crashes, and data loss by replicating rapidly and consuming resources.

What kind of damage can Trojans cause?

Trojans can steal sensitive data, install backdoors, and allow unauthorized access to compromised systems.

Do worms need user interaction to spread?

No, worms spread autonomously without user interaction by exploiting vulnerabilities in networked systems.

Can worms be detected easily?

Detection can be challenging as worms spread quickly and exploit vulnerabilities, but antivirus software can often identify them.

Are Trojans and viruses the same?

No, Trojans disguise themselves as legitimate software and require user execution, whereas viruses embed themselves in files and replicate when those files are executed.

Can worms be removed easily?

Removal can be complex due to their autonomous spread, but specialized tools and antivirus software can assist in eradication.

What preventative measures can stop Trojans?

Vigilant user practices, avoiding suspicious downloads, and using reliable antivirus software can help prevent Trojan infections.

Are worms and viruses the same?

No, worms are self-replicating and spread autonomously, whereas viruses require a host file and user action to spread.

Can Trojans be removed easily?

Trojans can be removed by identifying and deleting the malicious files, often with the help of antivirus software.

What preventative measures can stop worms?

Keeping systems updated, using firewalls, and employing robust antivirus solutions can help prevent worm infections.

Do Trojans need user interaction to infect?

Yes, Trojans rely on user interaction to be executed and installed, often through deception.

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Author Spotlight

Written by
Fiza Rafique
Fiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat

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