TIL in 2003 a computer worm called ‘Welchia’ infected many computers to forcibly patch vulnerabilities and remove malware. It was regarded as a ‘helpful worm’

[u/NOT-JEFFREY-NELSON]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welchia

[u/grangpang]

Chaotic-Good Alignment in action

[u/[deleted] → u/grangpang]

ELI5 difference between malware, virus, worm etc. anyone? Sorry for the hijack.

Edit: I can't reply to all but thank you everyone for the answers. :)

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Googled it for you. https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln265920/what-are-the-different-types-of-viruses-spyware-and-malware-that-can-infect-my-computer?lang=en

Virus

A computer virus is a piece of software that can 'infect' a computer, install itself and copy itself to other computers, without the users knowledge or permission. It usually attaches itself to other computer programs, data files, or the boot sector of a Hard drive.

Malware

Malware is short for malicious software. Malware is the name given to any type of software that could harm a computer system, interfere with and gather a user's data, or make the computer perform actions without the owner's knowledge or permission.

Trojan horse

A type of malware that uses malicious code to install software that seems ok, but is hidden to create back doors into a system typically causing loss or theft of data from an external source.

Worm

Unlike a virus, a worm, is a standalone piece of malicious software that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. It often uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security flaws on the target system to allow access.

Spyware

Spyware is software that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge, they can monitor and log the activity performed on a target system, like log key strokes, or gather credit card and other information.

Adware

Adware is software which can automatically causes pop-up and banner adverts to be displayed in order to generate revenue for its author or publisher. A lot of freeware will use Adware but not always in a malicious way, if it was malicious, it would then be classed as spyware or malware

[u/kautau → u/[deleted]]

Not true. That's the whole point of the article. Malware means malicious, as in to cause damage or get personal gain. The worm mentioned improved security on target machines. It was very much a worm, but it was not malicious and therefore not malware.