Grandad35 said:
Smile said:
I don't see anything wrong if he uses zip rar whatever files as long as it is not .exe file.
If you are paranoid as viruses then use something called virustotal.com
Winzip disagrees:
"Avoid downloading Zip files from untrusted web sites."
Grandad35
1) The act of downloading a file and saving it to your harddrive will not infect you.
2) Viewing the contents of a Zip file will not infect you.
3) Infection from a graphic file like a JPG is theoretically possible, and I do recall some internet chatter several years ago about mailicious code inside a graphic file, but, when was the last time you heard of a malicious graphic file. (
http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2002/06/va_perrun.html - Note you must be infected first before any JPG that contains malicious code can deliver its payload.) Pictures causing infection is more wivestale than reality AFAIK. Prevent infection by starting a graphics viewing program first and then using the graphics viewing program to browse to and open up the graphis file. In other words, do not double click on a suspected graphics file (or any file) in order to start up the associated graphics viewing program.
4) UnZipping the contents of a Zip file could place hidden files or files in unusual folders, possibly hidden, that could then do malicious things. That is why you should always inspect the contents inside the Zip file (ie view the contents first) before unzipping them onto your harddrive. AFAIK, there is no way to "hide" something inside a Zip file - everything can be viewed inside without infecting your harddrive.
5) If you are unsure of a file or two in a Zip file, either scan the Zip with your Antivirus app, delete the Zip, get confirmation from whomever sent it to you (who's to say they know either), or use an over-the-internet scanning site to scan a single file, a folder of files or even your entire drive. Virustotal.com is excellent for single file scans. A clearinghouse of scan sites may be found at
http://temerc.com/onlnscnnrs.htm
6) Always, ALWAYS install and keep updated a quality antiviral, anti-malware application. The rest is up to you not to open unknowns. Most people are infected via social engineering against the recipient - a link or file that offers something desirable or useful.
Always be wary of EXE, COM and BAT files. Graphics files like JPG's are not your enemy, especially if your operating system has associated the extension (JPG, BMP, PNG, etc) to open a graphics program. If someone renames an EXE to JPG, when you try to view the file, your graphics veiwer will not be able to read the file and will error out. No harm will occur.
Sorry
