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New virus travels in PDF files



http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cn/20010807/tc/new_virus_travels_in_pdf_files_1.html

'Adobe's popular PDF file format--known to anyone who's ever called up a tax form on the IRS Web site--has generally been considered immune to viruses. But a new virus carried by programs embedded in PDF files raises concerns that the format itself could become susceptible.

On Tuesday morning, Network Associates' McAfee antivirus division became aware of the first virus--known as "Peachy"--that uses PDF to spread, said Vincent Gullotto, senior director of McAfee's Avert group.

Fortunately, those who are simply viewing a PDF, or Portable Document Format, file aren't vulnerable. The virus spreads only by way of Adobe's Acrobat software--the program used to create PDF documents--not through Acrobat Reader, the free program that is used to view the files.'

Given the sorts of functionality supported by PDF now, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.  One consequence of including behavioral components in complex formats is that some of that behavior can be malicious.  Seems like, in future versions of Acrobat, Adobe will probably want to give users the option of only approving certain types of content in documents, kind of like the MS Word option of turning off macros.

Anyway, this doesn't look to be a major, immediate threat, since most people reading PDF are using the Reader, but it is now yet another factor to keep in mind when dealing with PDF (along with many other format that allow for stored scripts or procedures).

=========================================================
Cal Lee
University of Michigan
School of Information
Phone: 734-647-0505
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~calz/
"How can I know what I think because I forgot what I said?"
                                        - Karl Weick, 1979

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