Is it possible (today atleast) to have a virus in a .jpg file? am not talking abt a misleading file name like asdfg.jpg.exe or qwert.jpg.bat I am talking of a proper jpeg layer / format file which can hide a virus.... Now we know that even if a virus script is included in the jpg, how or rather what on earth will execute it ? jpg do not support 'embedding' unlike .doc right? (correct me if am wrong).... am kindo worked up on this after a friend told me this. I'll search google and astalavista...meanwhile if anyone has some info..do post here ! thanks !

Never heard of a virus in a jpg.

There were a few articles that came out about 6 months ago descibing how this can be done. You can't embed the actual virus in the jpg but apparently you can embed some sort of code that will trigger viri if they are on your system.

I don't believe it's possible, as the file is not executable under any circumstances. However, each time I visit a certain (quite respectable)website, my virus-checker tells me it's found a virus signature in a small JPG picture. It must be that by pure chance, there's a sequence of bytes in the file that matches the virus signature.

not to be rude Rambler, but it's ignorance like that that gets people into trouble. Are you a programmer, do you know how malicious code can work or how a jpg is parsed for data when read. Just because you don't belive it doesn't make it impossible. Go do a Google search for JPG's and virus's, you'lle find plenty to keep you busy.

I hope this topic doesn't turn to an argument. We're here to help solve problems. As far as I know, 'Perrun' virus that was found in JPG is not yet a major threat [compared to Klez virus, for instance]. Be careful with JPGs zipped in a zip file tho, it may contain a .exe virus that is not visible in the zipe file - until that zip file is extracted/unzipped which allows that virus to be executed and becomes active. Obviously the best solution to this is to always have an updated anti-virus software on your computer.

JPEG Worm Breaks New Ground dated June 13, 2002 Bryan