< networking , security > (From "Tapeworm" in John Brunner's novel "The Shockwave Rider", via XEROX PARC ) A program that propagates itself over a network, reproducing itself as it goes. Compare virus . Nowadays the term has negative connotations, as it is assumed that only crackers write worms.
Perhaps the best-known example was the Great Worm .
Compare Trojan horse .
[ Jargon File ]
(1996-09-17)