(1) A destructive program that replicates itself throughout a single computer or across a network, both wired and wireless. It can do damage by sheer reproduction, consuming internal disk and memory resources within a single computer or by exhausting network bandwidth. It can also deposit a Trojan that turns a computer into a zombie for spam and other malicious purposes. Very often, the terms "worm" and "virus" are used synonymously; however, worm implies an automatic method for reproducing itself in other computers. See virus, logic bomb, smartphone virus, Worm.ExploreZip virus and Morris worm.
(2) A program that moves through a network and deposits information at each node for diagnostic purposes or causes idle computers to share some of the processing workload. See ethical worm.
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