What is "Animal.dat"?

Posts: 3 · dave12 24 Jun 2022, 22:36

Hi sorry, I normally never have problems with this program but I updated to 11.22 and for the first time my AV blocked it and it was because of this "Animal.dat" file.

I looked on my older computer of FFS (11.20 IIRC) and it does not have this file. So, what is Animal.dat doing that making my AV freak out?

Posts: 3977 · xCSxXenon 26 Jun 2022, 15:27

viewtopic.php?t=9444
Redownload

Posts: 3 · dave12 27 Jun 2022, 00:36

Thanks for the reply but that doesn't answer the question.

Also getting the same thing "redownloading".

Posts: 3977 · xCSxXenon 27 Jun 2022, 14:03

Ah, I initially thought it wasn't supposed to be there at all... What AV are you using?
Also: https://freefilesync.org/faq.php#virus
and: viewtopic.php?t=9443

Posts: 1007 · therube 27 Jun 2022, 17:06

my AV blocked it and it was because of this "Animal.dat" file

Which AV?

I scanned with Malware Bytes Antimalware & it found nothing.
(Now, yes is possible for a picture to contain more then "a picture", & that I couldn't tell you if that's the case here, but from the best I can tell, that is not the case here. I suspect that your A/V simply doesn't like the file because it is a ".dat". And maybe your A/V is smart enough ? [can an A/V actually be smart?] to know that that .dat is simply a .jpg in disguise & doesn't like that fact?)

Posts: 3 · dave12 29 Jun 2022, 21:30

I should have clarified that it was my HIPS that stopped "Animal.dat", it was a new strange file that I did not recognize so I blocked it, because what is "Animal.dat"???

If my understanding is correct from you it's an image? a JPEG or PNG, then why not just make it a PNG then instead of using some ".dat" file type.

Still what it "Animal.dat"? What it new about this file, what's its purpose, that to it was added that wasn't in previous releases.

Posts: 1007 · therube 30 Jun 2022, 15:10

It's nothing, simply a cute picture (a .jpg).