Can .mp4 files be infected?

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Teknold
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Can .mp4 files be infected?

Post by Teknold » December 10th, 2016, 3:18 pm

Hello!


I have a likely stupid sounding question, but coming from Windows background, I believe danger from everything.

I'm usually very paranoid, but was tired at one point, real life stress making me crack, I did something stupid - I downloaded some video files that were hosted in [link removed]

I pretty much regretted my lack of carefulness few days later and deleted them. Issue being, I also had moved them to external hard drive and deleted them from there as well.

But now I'm struggling with paranoia and regret of that one time letting my impulses get out of control.

So my questions are as follow:

1) Is there Mac malware that hides itself inside .mp4 files? Like the file is video file that was expected and it plays, but could something malicious sneak in with it and run in the background without user noticing it? Can Mac malware hide itself inside of mp4 or even image files?

Are there Mac malware/adware/trojans, that can mask themselves with for example .mp4 file extension and when user clicks, it already runs and/or installs something?

For example catvideo.mp4 is instead installer to malware/trojan? Wouldn't there be some window asking about installing or can it just run/install without asking user's allowance?


Or is there a possibility user downloads a video.mp4, clicks on it, video plays normally, but in background something malicious, without user noticing, activates when video was activated?

2) Mac lacks malware that can infect other files, yes? So when I put them on external hard drive, then deleted them, even if there was something malicious, other files there would not have been infected? And using uploading to Mac from that external hard drive would not be a threat?

3) Does Mac malware actually have to ask user to let it run or can it simply sneak in and start running right away?
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Turboladdade
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Re: Can .mp4 files be infected?

Post by Turboladdade » December 10th, 2016, 6:17 pm

When in doubt, just download and run Malwarebytes Mac - the free version is on-demand scans only, not real-time protection, which I prefer anyways. I really don't know of a way for a video file that plays an actual video to contain malware.
I am now telling the computer exactly what it can do.
Teknold
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Joined:December 10th, 2016, 3:17 pm

Re: Can .mp4 files be infected?

Post by Teknold » December 10th, 2016, 7:15 pm

Turboladdade wrote:When in doubt, just download and run Malwarebytes Mac - the free version is on-demand scans only, not real-time protection, which I prefer anyways. I really don't know of a way for a video file that plays an actual video to contain malware.
Thank you very much for your quick reply!
I'll run Malwarebytes and it helps to know that tech-savy people can tell me that about video files. I'm just heaps and heaps of paranoid without knowing a thing. :lol:
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Turboladdade
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Re: Can .mp4 files be infected?

Post by Turboladdade » December 13th, 2016, 2:41 pm

I really don't think it's possible for a legitimate video file to contain malware. Now if it's an application or script disguised as a video, that's another thing.
I am now telling the computer exactly what it can do.
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