The dBase virus is very rare, but rather curious. It is clearly intended to garble dBase files, or rather any file with a name that ends in .DBF.
If the virus is active in memory when a program writes to a .DBF file, it will garble all the outgoing data. However, when the data is read back later, the virus will correct the garbled data.
There is just one problem. If the virus is detected and removed, the data will be useless because the virus will not be present to "de-garble" it when it is read back.
There is a more harmful side to this virus. If an attempt is made to write to a .DBF file that is more that three months old, the virus will try to destroy the FAT and root directory on drives D:, E: .... Z: There is a bug in the code, however, so the destruction will be rather unpredictable.
Based on the settings of your F-Secure security product, it will either move the file to the quarantine where it cannot spread or cause harm, or remove it.
A False Positive is when a file is incorrectly detected as harmful, usually because its code or behavior resembles known harmful programs. A False Positive will usually be fixed in a subsequent database update without any action needed on your part. If you wish, you may also:
Check for the latest database updates
First check if your F-Secure security program is using the latest updates, then try scanning the file again.
Submit a sample
After checking, if you still believe the file is incorrectly detected, you can submit a sample of it for re-analysis.
Note: If the file was moved to quarantine, you need to collect the file from quarantine before you can submit it.
Exclude a file from further scanning
If you are certain that the file is safe and want to continue using it, you can exclude it from further scanning by the F-Secure security product.
Note: You need administrative rights to change the settings.
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