Virus

[Primarygun]

Today, when I was checking my email inbox, I received an email from xxxxx@...com. I clicked on it and the email contained a file. xxxx.pif.

I know it probably is an inflected file, I was too mischievous and used the yahoo to scan it.

The fact is.... it is an inflected file.

Does the yahoo have a very strong virus detector, even better than ours?

[Sayonara]

It has a virus detector on the paid accounts.

 

Any .pif you receive via email will be a virus.

[ed84c]

what is a .pif file?

[Sayonara]

Program Information File:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=define%3A.pif

 

If you get one in an email it is 100% guaranteed to be malware.

[Ophiolite]

Ed, I use this site to find out what various file types are for:

http://www.filext.com/

 

This is what it said aboout pif: A Program Information File dates back to the early versions of Windows. Basically, it's an information file that when you click on it the information in the file is used by Windows to run some program; including code that can be in the PIF file. It is a potentially dangerous file type and one should never click on one received via E-mail without extensive knowledge of exactly what it will do first. Note: This file type can become infected and should be carefully scanned if someone sends you a file with this extension.

 

There may be better sites than this one, but it has always given me what I needed.

[5614]

well what sayo said excpet id say 99% as when they used to be used they were used for real programs, now a days they are viruses or other forms of malware... unless you are getting a reallly old program from a really reliable source and you know that they are sending it to you*, dont open it.

 

*remember some viruses auto send themselves through address books, just because you get an email from a friend doesnt mean its safe.

 

yahoo! email service uses norton anti-virus 2005 (i know, i use yahoo).

 

"It has a virus detector on the paid accounts" -- Sayonara³

 

i beg to differ, my free account has automatic attachment scanning, just to check this i use the yahoo! help and found:

http://help.yahoo.com/help/uk/mail/anti-virus/anti-virus-04.html

to back up what i said.

[Sayonara]

i beg to differ' date=' my free account has automatic attachment scanning, just to check this i use the yahoo! help and found:

http://help.yahoo.com/help/uk/mail/anti-virus/anti-virus-04.html

to back up what i said.[/quote']

Fancy that.

 

They must have upgraded the free accounts since the last time I logged in via webmail.

[Callipygous]

Fancy that.

 

They must have upgraded the free accounts since the last time I logged in via webmail.

 

yeah, you get like 100 mB of space now too.

[5614]

yes, 100MB inbox... send stuff to the bin or junk area and it dont even count towards that 100MB!!! and a 10MB email attachment limit.

 

yahoo they are way ahead of hotmail and are already planning their next upgrade which will outstrip hotmails upgrade (which hasnt even happened yet!) hence i chose a yahooo account.

 

as we can see, microsoft are also loosing their email dominance with the vastly superior (and quicker if you use the browser version) and also the new gmail.

 

and going back to the subject: soon bigger viruses will be possible, although the extra size is not needed. the technology for vast program compression is there and basic technology, but no one develops it (to its full potential) as they want to advance computing industry, so they dont use it... games now are a few GB in size, they could easily be A LOT LESS but they arent because why should companies spend money on it when they could save the money and that means that HDD companies get some money too.

[ed84c]

Ive heard about the CIH worm that screws up your bios if opened on the 25th of the month, meaning you have to get a new motherboard? Is this true? anybody know anybody who has had this? or anything about it?

 

by the way, the link opholite gave dosnt work

[5614]

ophiolite's link works fine for me, (earlier and now), maybe it must be in IE and not FF.

 

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/cih.html

 

symtantecs site, says (about CIH worm):

 

The CIH virus' date=' also known as Chernobyl, was first discovered in June 1998 in Taiwan. According to the Taipei authorities, Chen Ing-hau wrote the CIH virus. The name of the virus derived from his initials.

 

CIH is a destructive virus with a payload that destroys data. On April 26, 1999, the payload triggered for the first time, causing many computer users to lose their data. In Korea, it was estimated that as many as one million computers were affected, resulting in more than $250 million in damages.

 

Although the virus is rather old, Symantec still believes the virus is in the wild and may cause damage to computer users who use outdated virus definitions, or who do not use antivirus software.[/quote']

[5614]

so seemingly it does not effect the BIOS. if you BIOS is ruined, you can just buy a new BIOS chip and not a whole new motherboard... assuming the new BIOS chip is compatable with your motherboard.

 

maybe you didnt know, but the BIOS is a chip, like any normal black IC chip (or ICC). ive got one on the floor behind me from the old computer i took apart. its a 28 pin chip (14 each side) although that may have changed, this is ©1991 Acer inc.

[ed84c]

also is malware just a virus that isnt spyware or adware?

[5614]

a term increasingly being used to describe any form of malicious software such as: viruses, trojan horses, spyware or any other form of bad software!

 

the word is taken from MALicious softWARE

 

malware: anything bad

virus: a piece of programming code inserted into other programming to cause some unexpected and usually undesirable event, such as lost or damaged files

spyware (aka adware): program which assists in gathering information about a person without their knowledge

[ed84c]

so what is the MOST dangerous virus then?

[Primarygun]

I am quite afraid of the virus:P

[5614]

there are millions and millions of viruses out there. however there are a few major ones.

 

currently:

W32.Beagle.AV@mm

is a big one about, however there are always new ones and there are always big ones which spread quicker. basically a good virus is one which spreads well BEFORE the AV updates for it come readily available.

 

for instance a few years (or maybe only months ago) the first viruses which auto-spread through email came out. the 'klez' virus if i recall correctly.

 

"The worm exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express in an attempt to execute itself when you open or even preview the message in which it is contained... The worm overwrites files and creates hidden copies of the originals. In addition, the worm drops the virus W32.Elkern.3587, which is similar to W32.ElKern.3326... The worm attempts to disable some common antivirus products and has a payload which fills files with all zeroes." -- all from symantec site

 

(that was one of the first big... VERY BIG mass email viruses out.