-AVAST will scan all attachments
-Just in case AVAST misses something, save it, scan it, then open it
-And, even if the above is happens, you never know
If the mail shield is on, it will scan incomming/outgoing mails and attachment
- Mail Shield — Scans messages and attachments in E-mail/Microsoft Outlook/Exchange for viruses.
If you save the attchment to disk, it will be scanned again
File System Shield — Real-time protection against viruses and other malware threats. Scans files as they run on your computer to keep viruses from being able to execute.
If you open the attachment it will be scanned again
File System Shield — Real-time protection against viruses and other malware threats. Scans files as they run on your computer to keep viruses from being able to execute.
Thank you both very much for you time & detailed replies. It is very much appreciated. Not sure if it was intentional Pondus, but yours had me laughing as well, which is always good!
I send attached Word & PDF docs to clients. They intern fill-out & need to return those docs to me. I have always encouraged them to print, & return by fax or in the body of an email so as to avoid opening their attachments. My logic being that if their machines are infected, then that infection MAY corrupt my originally attached docs & when I open them after they are returned to me, my system may be compromised.
Am I being paranoid or practicing safe computing? :-\
And what would you recommend considering my situation? I have always opened such attachments on my Ubuntu machine but printing then becomes a problem with my set-up & using two machines makes organization more complicated.
I would say that is possibly a step too far as a) everything out there is potentially infected (don’t use the internet) and b) I would have thought that some customers might not be to happy about this practice.
e.g. You email them the document, you didn’t fax it, yet you are asking to fax it back rather than use the same communication medium. They have to a) trust your email attachment is clean, b) input their details, c) print the document, d). fax the document (not free, like email). So you are effectively asking them to trust you but not giving them the same consideration backed up by caution.
I don’t use Linux/Unix and I don’t use Virtualisation or sandboxing. Linux OS for opening attachments doesn’t seem of much use as if said documents are word docs, or windows based program files, etc. then any payload couldn’t activate so you couldn’t be sure one way or an other how it might react under windows.
So you may be best to have some form of VM (Virtual Machine) product or Sandboxing might be better, but I have zero practical experience in either area.
For me a healthy dose of caution and pro-active measures have been enough. The one thing for sure if you haven’t got a robust backup and recovery strategy, just in case you get bit and this isn’t just for viruses but computer issues in general.
So you are effectively asking them to trust you but not giving them the same consideration backed up by caution.
Yes & no…it’s not about me not trusting their motives or their character, but rather their computing abilities, as most of the planet doesn’t hang out in a AV forums & do not understand & implement internet & pc security to a level that I would find acceptable.
Linux OS for opening attachments doesn't seem of much use as if said documents are word docs, or windows based program files, etc. then any payload couldn't activate so you couldn't be sure one way or an other how it might react under windows.
Works great when I use Open Source software on Ubuntu & never open the attachments on my Windows machine!
