That file may have more information than you realize
As I have discussed on another page, a file may have more data in it than just the usual file contents. The extra data is called “metadata”, meaning information about the data. Examples of people getting into trouble because of information hidden in Microsoft Office documents are well known. Now we have a case where the metadata in a picture file has embarrassed the Washington Post. eWeek reports
The Washington Post’s online arm has apparently been caught in a metadata gaffe that exposed the whereabouts of a 21-year-old hacker who confessed to controlling thousands of compromised PCs for malicious use. The hacker agreed be interviewed by Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs on the condition that he not be identified by name or home town, but when the article was posted on the newspaper’s Web site, an accompanying photograph included metadata that pinpointed the location to Roland, Okla., a small town with a population of 2,842.
As an aside, I have to ask why the Washington Post is willing to feed the ego of a malicious cracker by writing an article about him subject to his conditions?