There's a NASTY virus going around with a .pif file extension. The subject line varies wildly so I can't tell you what to look for. McAfee didn't pick it up in either of the 2 emails I received - seems it's a bad virus too. Just wanted to give a heads up - if you get an email with a .pif delete it immediately!

 

Got one last Tuesday but MCAfee took care of it.

It was a .doc file with pif attached.

 

This is the warning I posted on a site I manage about it.
There are some files going around via email that may look like a .pif, .doc, or even a .bat file and are NOT what they appear to be. These files often turn out to have double extensions, (like .pif.exe) but many computers and email programs do not show the second extension. Many virus programs also do not recognise the second extension, and therefore are not catching these virii.
DO NOT download these files!!!
One we recived (menu.bat) was 78kb in size and the text said that our HP printer may not print in DOS without the attached file. One of our printers is a HP, but we did not register the printer to the email address that the file was recieved by.
Another was 'useful.pif' 133kb in size, and included text that gave us tips on adjusting our printing paper.
Be VERY cautious of large or unusual files being sent to you without your asking for them.
You can assume these ARE virii and delete them imediately without downloading.

 

Also you may want to update your Outlook, there is a MIME security hole (old hole but still...) This will enable viruses to be executed without your permission...

a .pif is an old DOS file, I think a shortcut file...

My advice is NEVER open an email attachement you don't know who it came from and then only open .jpg or .gif

 

eph1fifty,

You may want to rethink your advice, most of todays viruses when received resend themselves to everyone in your outlook address book. So, most viruses you receive will originate from someone you know, only they won't know they sent it.

To be safe, you shouldn't open any email with attachments unless you were expecting them. I am not that safe...

 

In the second email I received I SDID know the sender! I just hapened to catch the file extension as I started the download & was able to cancel almost immediately! I was suspicious simply because of the .pf extension & it turns out I was right to be! I'd received a totally different email 2 days agowhich appeared to come from a website & that had the .pif whicch I'd never seen so had a freind use his software & sure enough, his did detect the virus!
I'm going to switch anti virus software - probably to Norton as that's what did pick it up in borh instances & McAfee didn't in either! Thanks for the help though guys & ATST - I knew I could count on you all!

 

Actually with Outlook XP all file attachements are blocked except safe ones like images I am safe but still enjoy ribbed emails for her pleasure

 

I ditched all versions of outlook from my computer.
I check all my emails with JBmail first. It allows me to read mail without downloading it, then I can delete it right off the server.
It will not execute any files, and allows me to inspect the coding.

 

Cowlady,

Probably a good idea to go with Norton, I am no security expert, but I do work for IBM and corporate anti-virus is Norton (might be because they bought the IBM Anti-Virus software from IBM, don't know for sure, but I would suspect that the IBM Research Lab still feeds them info on how to identify the latest viruses as well). I haven't had any virus corrupt my machine and I know that Norton has caught many, all before I every opened the mail.... we are also required to run Symantic Firewall on every machine.....

John

 

I have my Outlook set up with a preview pane. I wonder if I am in danger even though I don't execute the attachment? It will show a attached picture in the preview pane but I think that's it.

 

Sorry to say, but yes your absolutely are vulnerable with a preview pane, so much so, that CNN reported on the latest virus (can't remember the name) and specifically mentioned, while showing an example in Outlook, that it could be launched by the preview pane....