Is this a virus?

[marty1990]

Friend sent me a link, opened it up, started to download this file:

womens-12min-animated_TXB_1.flv

Cancelled it before it fully downloaded. Will I have a virus?

I don't know what the site was because I killed Chrome too.

 

[0dev]

No. FLV files are just Flash videos.

 

[Shrink]

Friend sent me a link, opened it up, started to download this file:

womens-12min-animated_TXB_1.flv

Cancelled it before it fully downloaded. Will I have a virus?

I don't know what the site was because I killed Chrome too.

Until GGJstudios can get here and explain in detail...

There are no viruses in the wild that will effect OS X at this time. While OS X is not immune to viruses, none exist in the wild at this time.

So no...you don't have a virus.

 

[GGJstudios]

Friend sent me a link, opened it up, started to download this file:

womens-12min-animated_TXB_1.flv

Cancelled it before it fully downloaded. Will I have a virus?

I don't know what the site was because I killed Chrome too.

It's a video. Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 12 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). 3rd party antivirus apps are not necessary to keep a Mac malware-free, as long as a user practices safe computing, as described in the following link.

​

Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.

 

[benwiggy]

Friend sent me a link, opened it up, started to download this file:

If you click on a link in an email, then it will download a file -- a webpage, a pdf, a movie, whatever the URL points to. What did you think would happen?

Was there any text in the email, like "here's a video of my animated women"?

It's worth pointing out that Flash is know to have MANY vulnerabilities, so the flash movie could potentially contain some exploit that might be harmful to you computer (though it would need authorisation to do serious damage and still would not spread like a virus).

 

[0dev]

If you click on a link in an email, then it will download a file -- a webpage, a pdf, a movie, whatever the URL points to. What did you think would happen?

Was there any text in the email, like "here's a video of my animated women"?

It's worth pointing out that Flash is know to have MANY vulnerabilities, so the flash movie could potentially contain some exploit that might be harmful to you computer (though it would need authorisation to do serious damage and still would not spread like a virus).

If you open the file in VLC and keep Flash up to date anyway (which you should) then you're probably safe. I play FLV files in VLC even on Windows, never had an issue.

 

[jav6454]

Friend sent me a link, opened it up, started to download this file:

womens-12min-animated_TXB_1.flv

Cancelled it before it fully downloaded. Will I have a virus?

I don't know what the site was because I killed Chrome too.

Any .flv file extension is nothing but flash video. Download, VLC Player, be able to play the video tho.