Image Viruses
Image viruses cannot cause any damage to a computer by themselves. Instead the code they contain exploits problems in other programs. For example, the code to draw images in Microsoft Windows was found to have a flaw. This flaw allowed images to access parts of the system that they would not normally be allowed to access. An infected image, transferred to your computer on a web page, in a document or in a chat window could access your system and plant a virus.
As images are not normally seen as a threat these viruses are not stopped by normal anti-virus software. Instead it is important to check for any system updates provided by the manufacturer of your operating system.
The original version of this image virus was known as Trojan.Moo.
There have also been problems with .wmf files. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Metafile_vulnerability
Next: Virus Quiz 3
