AVI picture problem (ie there is none)

Donnie

nimbo wrote: »

i didn't want to seem ungrateful.

thank you it's working fine, and it was good that it was idiot proof, but will make me at least think for a second before just downloading something next time, coz next time it couldbe a nasty thing (from someone else...)

Just download and save any future file. Once saved, right click on it and choose the option to scan it with your antivirus solution.

fwor

Donnie wrote: »

Just download and save any future file. Once saved, right click on it and choose the option to scan it with your antivirus solution.

There seems to be a common misconception that this will keep you safe.

However, it relies on the AV companies being aware of that particular piece of malware, and having created a virus definition that causes it to be recognised, and having distributed that definition to your AV signatures database. If it were malware created the previous day, it probably wouldn't be detected.

You only have to look at the Conficker botnet worm to see an example of malware that got past AV programs for weeks without being detected.

Donnie

fwor wrote: »

There seems to be a common misconception that this will keep you safe.

However, it relies on the AV companies being aware of that particular piece of malware, and having created a virus definition that causes it to be recognised, and having distributed that definition to your AV signatures database. If it were malware created the previous day, it probably wouldn't be detected.

You only have to look at the Conficker botnet worm to see an example of malware that got past AV programs for weeks without being detected.

So what do you suggest?

fwor

Donnie wrote: »

So what do you suggest?

Stick with Open Source?

I must admit, even that is no absolute guarantee of safety. IIRC, there's a competition held every year to find the cleverest way to "hide" code that does unwanted things, and some are so clever, I doubt they would be spotted by anyone before the damage had been done.

But in Open Source projects it's probably a lot harder to create code in a truly anonymous way. With a codec pack it's easy - just let it loose on Bittorrent and you're away, with no real risk of being traced...

alanrowell

Donnie wrote: »

So what do you suggest?

Wait a several hours or so for others to download the file and see what they say about it.

fwor

alanrowell wrote: »

Wait a several hours or so for others to download the file and see what they say about it.

But there are currently several million people that have the Conficker worm, and have had for weeks or months, who don't seem to have a clue that they are infected. How long would you wait before assuming a download was safe?

alanrowell

fwor wrote: »

But there are currently several million people that have the Conficker worm, and have had for weeks or months, who don't seem to have a clue that they are infected. How long would you wait before assuming a download was safe?

Of all the people downloading it, the odds are that someone would detect the infection and report it. Therefore you wait until there is a good positive score on it with no negatives

It's a form of vox populi

-TangleFoot-

I've been using this for a while in lieu of a conventional anti-virus application. I'm not sure how effective it is, but in theory it stops all sorts of nasty things from happening.