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From: FromTheRafters on 3 Nov 2009 06:37
"Bob L" <bl(a)thisaddressisnowhere.com> wrote in message
news:m8nve5lr2t79cdbdhjpgi9ucpk0u088q85(a)4ax.com...
> On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 22:24:26 -0500, "FromTheRafters"
> <erratic(a)nomail.afraid.org> wrote:
>
>>"Fruit2O" <jz137xww(a)cox.net> wrote in message
>>news:ao3ve5lccovglfa29e4bgdm5muvklq7qb4(a)4ax.com...
>>>I have a file given to me by a friend - but I am leary of opening it
>>> for fear of getting a virus. Am I justified?
>>
>>Yes, very much so. Contrary to the popular refrain "...and I don't
>>open
>>files from strangers" - much malware comes (or appears to come) from
>>those you *do* know and trust.
>>
>>> What if I open it and run it through my anti-virus program?
>>
>>From a general security standpoint, if you didn't request it - delete
>>it. If you really *do* want it, then you should have it scanned for
>>malware some days after you receive it (cooling off - trying to avoid
>>day zero malware) by several scanners.
>>
>>> If it passes, would that assure safety?
>>
>>No, only the first option assures safety.
>>
>>> If not, is there another way to check the contents of the zip
>>> file for possible malware?
>>
>>Old school - unzip and scan the resulting files. Now, most scanners
>>are
>>capable of extracting the files for you when you scan the archive
>>itself.
>>
>>...and as an aside, some malware has attacked vulnerabilities in the
>>implementation of that very feature.
>>
>
>
> Get yourself Sandboxie and run all your operations there to start
> with.

Not a bad idea, I used to use a registry change tracker like InControl
on an isolated machine - not perfect, but better than running unknowns
on my online machine.


From: russg on 3 Nov 2009 13:44
On Nov 2, 9:05 pm, Fruit2O <jz137...(a)cox.net> wrote:
> I have a file given to me by a friend - but I am leary of opening it
> for fear of getting a virus.  Am I justified?  What if I open it and
> run it through my anti-virus program?  If it passes, would that assure
> safety?  If not, is there another way to check the contents of the zip
> file for possible malware?

If it is a .zip file, you could use powerarchiver (free) to see the
names of the files inside the zip.
Virustotal may be able to identify virus in a zip. If it is a self-
extracting .exe file, don't open it
until you submit it to Virustotal (there are other multi-checking
sites.) You should be
wary of anything you aren't sure of, such as the friend's file. If
the file is a .zip and
powerarchiver shows a folder or only one file, then you could unzip it
and submit
the resulting file to Virustotal. Using Virustotal on a single file
is easier and probably
more up-to-date than your AV software.
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