A worm is able to spread from one computer to another by replicating the file, which carries its code. It can use the computer's systems to automatically mail copies of itself to systems over a network or from an electronic mail program's address book list. Since it uses the account customer's address when replicating by electronic mail, others may be caught off guard when someone they know sends them an innocuous message asking them to read a specific document. More advanced worms are able to avoid detection by changing the subject heading of the infected message. Depending on the way they present themselves in the system, worms may remain undetected for some time.
Worms can access passwords and other system security settings.
They also might search for openings in the Internet processing components of a computer to install a program on that system that could be controlled remotely by someone over the Internet. Hoaxes Hoaxes are electronic mail or other group postings, which raise an alarm about a nonexistent virus. The message is intended to cause its reader to forward the information to others, thus creating a pattern similar to a chain letter. In the case of the LoveLetter worm, a virus warning also can carry a viral payload, such as a worm or virus. Hoaxes tend to alarm computer users about nonexistent viruses, and valuable resources are consumed while others attempt to verify the warning.