RealTown's RealTalk

Editor's Note
Candice, we found this reference:http://stason.org/TULARC/security/computer-virus-l/64-Can-a-virus-hide-in-a-GIF-or-JPEG-file.html 64 Can a virus "hide" in a GIF or JPEG file?GIF and JPEG (.JPG) files contain compressed graphical information.Every now and then, rumors arise that is possible to infect those fileswith a virus  in such a way, that it will spread when you display one ofthese images. This is technically impossible--no part of the GIF orJPEG format contains code that is executed by the viewer program.It *is* possible to use the least significant bit of the colorinformation for each pixel in GIF files to store additional information,without visibly altering the quality of the picture contained in thefile. This is called "steganography" and is sometimes used to transmitsecretly encrypted messages. Since a virus is nothing more thaninformation, it is possible to "encode" it into a GIF file and transmitit this way. However, the recipients must be aware that the GIF filecontains such hidden information and take some deliberate steps toextract it--it cannot happen against their will.