Question

With reference to Cyber Crimes worm attack

• A. needs the virus to attach
• B. do not need the virus to attach
• C. needs the host to attach
• D. do not need the host to attach

Hint:

Remember the key difference between a virus and a worm: a virus needs a host program to spread (it's a parasite), while a worm is a standalone program that can spread on its own (it's self-contained).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

The cleanest way to answer this is to fix the definitions of virus and worm side by side and see which option matches the worm's actual behaviour.

1. A computer virus: Requires a host program or file to attach itself to, and typically needs some human action, such as running the infected file, before it can spread further.
2. A computer worm: Is a standalone piece of malicious software that does not attach itself to any host program. It replicates and spreads on its own, commonly by exploiting security weaknesses across a network, without requiring a host file or, often, any user action at all.

Since the question asks specifically about what a worm needs, and a worm's defining trait is precisely that it needs no host to attach to, the correct answer is do not need the host to attach.

Answer 2

Another way to settle this is to think about how each type of malware actually propagates across a network, since the propagation mechanism reveals whether a host is required.

1. Needs the virus to attach: This mixes up the categories, since a worm is not defined in relation to a virus at all; they are two independent classes of malware.
2. Do not need the virus to attach: True in a trivial sense but misses the actual technical distinction, which is about the host program rather than about a virus.
3. Needs the host to attach: Describes a virus's propagation, which depends on infecting a host file that must then be run by a user for the infection to spread further.
4. Do not need the host to attach: Describes a worm's propagation, which happens through the worm actively exploiting vulnerabilities to copy itself onto other machines across a network, entirely independent of any host program and often without any user triggering it.

Since the worm's propagation mechanism is precisely what makes it independent of any host file, the correct answer is do not need the host to attach.