Fighting malware and spam

Misinfection

A file infected incorrectly by a virus

A misinfected file is one that a virus has attempted to infect, but has not done so in the way in which the virus writer intended.

Misinfected viruses may continue to function as normal if the virus code has been inserted but never gains control, or may try to run the virus without effect. In some cases the file may be entirely unusable, having been corrupted by the virus.