Worms are like viruses in that they do replicate themselves. However, instead of spreading from file to file, they spread from computer to computer, infecting an entire network system. Viruses are either benign or malignant. The majority of viruses are harmless and do no real damage to a computer or files. A benign virus might do nothing more than display a message at a predetermined time or slow down the performance of a computer.
Malignant viruses cause damage to a computer system, such as corrupting files or destroying data.
Just because a virus is classified as malignant does not mean that the damage it causes is intentional. Sometimes the damage is the result of poor programming or unintended bugs in the viral code. A virus hoax is an e-mail that is intended to scare people about a nonexistent virus threat. Users often forward these alerts thinking they are doing a service to their fellow workers, but this causes lost productivity, panic and lost time. This increased traffic can soon become a massive problem in e-mail systems and cause unnecessary fear and panic.