Certain file types have always been vulnerable to virus infection.
In the broadest sense, there are basically 2 types of files on a computer.
- Files that are executable. – These files are usually referred to as programs. iTunes, Microsoft Word, virii, malware, even Windows itself is basically a (gigantic) program or group of programs. We sometimes say that these programs “execute code”, because all programs are coded instructions that tell the computer what to do. Hence the term “Computer Programmer”, and one of the slang terms for the same person: a “coder”.
- Files that require a program to run them. For the most part, we can refer to these as documents. Word processor files (.doc or .docx), Audio files (.mp3, .aac, etc), pdf files, picture files (.jpg, .png, .tif, .cr2, etc), movie files (mp4, flv, etc) and the like.
Almost any executable file can be infected with a virus. This doesn’t meant though that non-executable files are always safe. Continue reading Email and website documents – what types should I provide