GIFs Good, Flash Executable Bad [Was: Plain text files in internet explorer]

["Roland Postle" <mail () blazde co uk>]

> GIFs can't exploit your 
> system.  Flash files can, just like any executable.

This myth that static data files such as gifs, jpegs and zip files
/can't/ exploit your system really gets to me. Virus scanners continue
to scan only 'active' content, but some applications are in such
widespread use now that it's only a matter of time before a
vulnerability in say, Winzip's file handling, is exploited in a virus
that infects .zip files. Or a vulnerability in IE's jpeg module that
allows jpegs to carry viruses. It's not 'just like any executable', but
it's not automatically safe either.

- Blazde