Virus In Movie File?

[StrongislanD]

Is it possible? I have never downloaded a movie with a virus yet (knock on wood), while i downloaded a couple of games with many. Is it just impossible to put a virus in a movie file?

[amphoteric88]

i've never heard of this myself either, hopefully it can't be done.
however, you can be sure there'll be people working on doing it if there's a chance of it working, maybe even the riaa will resort to some sort of infected media files on p2p networks

[bennyboy]

I dont think it's possible either bu here is my 2 cents,

It takes just a few seconds for someone to insert a virus into a file. It takes 2 seconds to scan a file with an antivirus. It takes quite a while to reinstall windows and all it's updates if you can get rid of the virus.

[KANADIANborn]

Wasn't there a XP update to "gaurd against" such a thing, not to long ago, if I am not mistaken ?

[zeos100]

i never downloaded a movie with a virus yet
BUT i d/l a movie how didn't want to play on "Windows Media Player"
Whan i was on-line i gust played it with adder Player ;)

[4play]

It is not possible to put a virus into a media file because you do not execute anything. The player just opens it up and starts reading the data.

It is possible to create buffer overflows in certain media players. real player and wmp have both had them in the past and will do on the future.

you maybe able to execute commands placed inside labels like comments and name that get attached to the file. but only if the buffer that holds it is not big enough.

BUt it would have to be player specific. so it is very very difficult to do and you have to use the right player.

so i would not worry about viruses in media files.

[Jibbler]

Originally posted by 4play@28 April 2003 - 10:58
It is not possible to put a virus into a media file because you do not execute anything. The player just opens it up and starts reading the data.
While I do believe you are correct about viruses and media files, I want to point out one small mistake in what you said.

Users who use Outlook Express for email have been infected by viruses by using the "preview pane" in their email system. This preview pane doesn't actually execute anything, but has been known to spread viruses. Anyone remember Bubbleboy Virus? :huh:

[3RA1N1AC]

i think it is actually possible to spread a virus through a media file, but it is just nowhere near as easy to accomplish as just attaching viruses to executables, emails, ms-word macros, etc.

a few months ago, i remember reading about an mp3 based virus that could be executed by just playing a file in winamp and windows media player. but nullsoft and microsoft both released fixes within a few days of this discovery, and effectively squashed that threat before it could get out of hand.

back in ye olden days, it was possible to put a virus in a GIF picture file and you'd get infected just by viewing the GIF. thankfully, we've come a long way since then. :lol:

[3RA1N1AC]

pc games, emulators, programs, cracks, anything you can download from kazaa that includes an executable file... is a slightly risky proposition. you should definitely do a virus scan on any program you DL from kazaa before you use it, or look for it from a more secure source like emule or bittorrent.

kazaa is great for media sharing... but programs, you should be very cautious about them.

[NoX]

you can get a virus from a mp3