First reported PDF virus is not ‘Peachy’

Kelly McNeill writes “Although the file format was long thought to be immune to attack, investigators have discovered the first virus that exploits Adobe Systems’ Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Named “Peachy” by McAfee virus hunters at Network Associates Tuesday, the e-mail worm embeds itself in a PDF file that is sent as an attachment through Microsoft’s Outlook address book. Users of the free Acrobat Reader program are unaffected by the new virus, but the revelation is prompting questions over the file format’s basic security.” This article expands on yesterday’s report of the problem.