This type of vulnerability has been exploited to silently install various malware (such as spyware, remote control software, worms and such) onto computers browsing a malicious web page.
In 2004, Hyppönen co-operated with Vanity Fair on a feature, The Code Warrior, which examined his role in the Blaster and Sobig Computer worms.
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Nimda (2001), named Concept Virus by its author, one of the first multi-vector Windows viruses.
However, in practice this advice is not enough – "known trusted sources" were the senders of executable programs creating mischief and mayhem as early as 1987 (with the mainframe-based Christmas Tree EXEC), so since the ILOVEYOU and Anna Kournikova worms of 2000 and 2001 email systems have increasingly added layers of protection to prevent potential malware – and now many block certain types of attachments.
On the other hand, a worm is a program that actively transmits itself over a network to infect other computers.
In 2006, anti-virus company Sophos discovered a computer worm known as "W32/Hoots-A", which sends a graphical image of a snowy owl with the letters "O RLY?" to a print queue when it infects a Windows-based computer.
The virus is based on the Melissa virus, with its aim to install Linux onto the victim's computer without the owner's notice.
The graph of the computer worm Conficker is particularly clearcut and shows great interest throughout the week, dropping sharply over weekends.