Odd virus(?) incident

[B. Chernick]

This is not really my field. I think I'm fairly careful about such threats
(keep my virus protection up to date, be suspicious of spam) but this seemed
unusual even by my standards.

I received an email with a Gmail return address on my Yahoo! account. The
message was virtually empty but contained a large (bizarrely large by spam
standards- 11+ Meg) PPT file. I did not recognize the sendee and naturally
I deleted it.

What I find unsettling is that Yahoo!s own virus scan claimed that this
attachment posed no threat.

So I guess my question is: How common are Powerpoint-born viruses and is
there anything new going around?

 

[RJK]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=powerpoint+email+attachment+security+threat&meta=



regards, Richard


"B. Chernick" <BChernick@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:16EBE9FC-057F-4CB7-9E2A-1718CE777EB7@microsoft.com...
> This is not really my field. I think I'm fairly careful about such
> threats
> (keep my virus protection up to date, be suspicious of spam) but this
> seemed
> unusual even by my standards.
>
> I received an email with a Gmail return address on my Yahoo! account. The
> message was virtually empty but contained a large (bizarrely large by spam
> standards- 11+ Meg) PPT file. I did not recognize the sendee and
> naturally
> I deleted it.
>
> What I find unsettling is that Yahoo!s own virus scan claimed that this
> attachment posed no threat.
>
> So I guess my question is: How common are Powerpoint-born viruses and is
> there anything new going around?

 

[B. Chernick]

Thanks. I did Google for it and I am aware that PPT files can be carriers.
It's just that even with the volume of spam I receive, I've never seen
anything like this. I was wondering if there was a new outbreak in progress.

(And if this is an old virus, I'm really concerned that Yahoo!'s scan missed
it. Oh well, paranoia is my best friend.)

"RJK" wrote:

> http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=powerpoint+email+attachment+security+threat&meta=
>
>
>
> regards, Richard
>
>
> "B. Chernick" <BChernick@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:16EBE9FC-057F-4CB7-9E2A-1718CE777EB7@microsoft.com...
> > This is not really my field. I think I'm fairly careful about such
> > threats
> > (keep my virus protection up to date, be suspicious of spam) but this
> > seemed
> > unusual even by my standards.
> >
> > I received an email with a Gmail return address on my Yahoo! account. The
> > message was virtually empty but contained a large (bizarrely large by spam
> > standards- 11+ Meg) PPT file. I did not recognize the sendee and
> > naturally
> > I deleted it.
> >
> > What I find unsettling is that Yahoo!s own virus scan claimed that this
> > attachment posed no threat.
> >
> > So I guess my question is: How common are Powerpoint-born viruses and is
> > there anything new going around?
>
>
>

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "B. Chernick" <BChernick@discussions.microsoft.com>

| This is not really my field. I think I'm fairly careful about such threats
| (keep my virus protection up to date, be suspicious of spam) but this seemed
| unusual even by my standards.
|
| I received an email with a Gmail return address on my Yahoo! account. The
| message was virtually empty but contained a large (bizarrely large by spam
| standards- 11+ Meg) PPT file. I did not recognize the sendee and naturally
| I deleted it.
|
| What I find unsettling is that Yahoo!s own virus scan claimed that this
| attachment posed no threat.
|
| So I guess my question is: How common are Powerpoint-born viruses and is
| there anything new going around?

There are no PowerPoint viruses. There are vulnerabilities in MS Office and explpoit code
in MS Office data files such as PowerPoint.
However, I doubt a PowerPoint PPT/PPS file using exploit code would be >11MB. Sounds like
plain old spam.

--
Dave
http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html
Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

 

[FromTheRafters]

"B. Chernick" <BChernick@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:16EBE9FC-057F-4CB7-9E2A-1718CE777EB7@microsoft.com...
[snip]

> What I find unsettling is that Yahoo!s own virus scan claimed that this
> attachment posed no threat.

It should be understood that virus scanners can only state what they
believe they have found. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence
and good programs can be flagged as malware.

You must (as you did) use the brain to correct for the shortcomings of
scanners.
[snip]