Myth: viruses can hide inside a data file

http://www.kumite.com/myths

Your CIO can reduce virus hoaxes in your firm. Here's how

MYTH: "viruses can hide inside a data file or in electronic mail or in the text of a worldwide web page"

**Stop the press!**
More problems
The headline of a recent Trend Micro Inc. press release proudly claims their new software "detects Internet e-mail viruses." Trend Micro's home page offers a "report that details the threat ... caused by Internet viruses."

Reality:

Data files can't wreak havoc on your computer -- only an executable program file can do that (including the program that runs every time you turn on or reboot a computer). A virus would waste its effort infecting a data file.

But let's be realistic: what you think is 'data' may actually be an executable file. For example, a "batch file" on an IBM PC contains only text, yet DOS treats it just like a program. Likewise, Microsoft Word documents contain only word processing data, but a Word template file can masquerade as a regular document file and can carry potentially dangerous executable macros.

Of course, an email could contain an attachment such as an infected Word template file. Executing the attached file could spread computer viruses.

Malicious joke home pages

In rare cases, a home page will jokingly claim visitors contracted a computer virus just by reading it with their eyeballs. Unfortunately, users fear viruses -- and fear breeds panic. One expert claims these prank sites panicked at least one person into erasing months of data by his own hand because he believed the joke.

Domain info

You can help stamp out malicious jokes when you complain to the Internet service provider. Study the website's Internet address to obtain its domain name (usually name.com or name.net), then perform a domain search to learn about the service provider. Fire off a complaint message to the domain's technical contact.

Internet service providers fear a lawsuit if a customer's malicious joke backfires. The provider will usually either terminate the joker's account or at least force him to stop toying with people's fears about computer viruses. Internet providers won't risk getting named in a lawsuit because of something a customer did.

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