Is it safe to download photos?
Downloading photos from the Internet is unlikely to damage the computer because image files do not contain any executable code, which is virtually impossible for the virus to hide inside the image. Viruses may sometimes appear as image files using double file extensions such as "File.jpg.exe", and some images of images can also contain malware. Users should also be aware of copyright when they download photos for personal or commercial use. The image files fall into the second category and have not been designed to contain a executable code. Because computer viruses, worms and other forms of malware run like executable programs, it is unlikely that someone who is trying to download photos would threaten his computer. It is at least theoretically possible for an attacker to create a deliberately damaged image file that would crash or manipulate the program opens the file, but this type of attack is very rare.
A significant threat comes from executable programs masking as image files, tactics used by some authors of viruses and malware to mask their harmful creations. One virus, which was particularly effective in this type of fraud distributed by e-mail messages with an attachment called "Annankournikova.jpg.vbs". Although the name of the file contained ".jpg", ie the valid extension for the image, the actual extension of the file was ".vbs", executable format. As a result, anyone who has tried to download a photo of a Russian tennis star actually opened a virus that continued to e -mail with its copies to each recording in the user's directory. Real image files end up only in ".jpg,", ".gif," or ".png". It is necessary to avoid all other extensions.
Some websites that offer the ability to download photographInstall Malware or Spyware to the user's system. This site could be established with the intention of focusing on the rushPuppies or could be legitimate sites that have been hacked. Safety measures of common sense, such as current maintenance, can help alleviate the risk of malware infection.
Although they are found via a search engine or displayed on a public site, it is also important to realize that images on the Internet can be protected by copyright. Downloading these photos for school presentation, sharing them with friends or using them on their own website could be a form of copyright infringement. It is particularly important to determine the status of the copyright image if it is used for commercial purposes. Some websites publish content under a less restrictive license that allows users to download photos for certain uses. Searching for "Creative Commons" or "Public Domain Images" can help users prevent hot water.