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Computer security is something that affects everyone, whether they realize it or not. Even if you don’t personally use a computer, cyber criminals and their efforts have an impact on your life. Your data is stored on computers at government agencies, doctor offices, insurance companies and your bank, to name a few. Chances are your employer relies on computers to store data. Without implementation of sound computer security measures, your data is at risk, and when cyber criminals strike, it costs you money regardless of whether you’re the direct victim. Someone has to pay for damages and those costs eventually pass on to customers.

Consider the estimated price tag for some of the better-known attacks. The Code Red worm caused an estimated $2.5 Billion in damages worldwide, ILOVEYOU racked up $15 Billion worth of damage, SoBig topped $37 Billion and MyDoom became the world’s most expensive virus in 2004 when it caused damages estimated to be $38 Billion. Sony’s recent hacker-caused Playstation Network outage didn’t just annoy video gamers, it ended up costing the company over $170 million and that’s before any damages attributed to compromised credit card numbers were calculated. So what exactly are these worms, viruses and exploits that cause billions of dollars in damages? What does a “worm” mean when it comes to cyber criminal activity?

Virus: A virus is a computer program written to undertake an activity on your computer without you realizing it. For example, a relatively harmless virus may display nonsense error messages on your computer display, while one meant to be intentionally destructive might delete or corrupt files on your system. A virus will duplicate itself and attach copies to other files on your computer—when you open one of the infected files, you cause the virus software to run and execute its designed task. Viruses typically spread as e-mail attachments and may veil itself as macro in a spreadsheet or word processor file.

Worm: A worm is computer code that replicates itself and spreads through e-mail attachments. Unlike a virus, a worm doesn’t need to attach itself to a file. Worms can be particularly dangerous because once they’ve infected a computer they allow hackers to gain access to the machine. Worms can also cause network disruption, consuming bandwidth that can slow every system.

Zombie: Zombies typically deliver as e-mail attachments. Once clicked on, the attachment installs a program that remains hidden and inactive on the computer. Cyber criminals are then able to active the zombie remotely and use the host computer to undertake criminal activity without the computer owner being aware of it. Large, coordinated groups of zombie computers called botnets are often used to generate spam or to target a website and try to take it down under a large volume of requests (known as a denial of service attack).

Spyware: Spyware often finds its way into a computer when a program downloads from an untrusted website. Without the computer owner’s knowledge, spyware runs in the background and tracks everything they do. It is frequently used to display targeted ads when a user is online, based on their web browsing habits. Some spyware is sophisticated enough to develop a profile of the computer user and send that profile off to a third party where it’s sold as part of a mailing list.

Viral Web Site: These web sites prey on people who aren’t completely familiar with the web or who are not paying close attention to the websites they visit. A viral website will masquerade as a real, well known web site, but there will be differences that an astute visitor will recognize as warning signs. The website’s URL will be slightly different than the legitimate site and the appearance is usually slightly different. Once lured to a viral website, it’s easy for a computer user to accidentally download a virus that infects their computer.

Phishing: An increasingly common approach taken by cyber criminals, phishing is a threat to computer users and smartphone or tablet owners as well. A phisher sends an e-mail disguised as official communication from a bank, insurance company, utility provider, credit card customer service or other commercial entity. The e-mail will have instructions to reset your password, or conform your credit card number and will include a link to a fake website (antivirus software will often have the capability of warning you that the site appears to be fake). If you enter the information on the website, cyber criminals will be able to see it.

Jean. S. Blue is a network administrator who teaches computer security courses at her local community college. Jean stresses the importance of antivirus software at work and at home. A recent article she wrote outlines the financial impact of a successful hack on a multinational financial corporation, including data theft, systems damage and public relations.