Resolved: Would like to now what is the name of the zip program

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

HI I was just wondering if I could ask a question about sending virus/malware to avast software.

I was wondering I do not have a virus I was just wanting to now though if I ever get a virus or malware on my computer what I would like to now what Zip program should I use to zip the virus/malware and send the zipped Malware/virus to avast software, what email address to send the samples to.
please provide.

The reason I ask this is because I had read in a post that said that you had to have a certain zipped program to zip the virus/malware samples otherwise if they were not zipped with this zipped program avast would not look at the samples if they were not zipped with this program.
Please provide name of zipped progam to use to zip the samples in for avast if I ever get a virus/malware on my computer.

Have a great eveing and weekend everybody.
Thanks again

2

Hello,
you can use i.e. http://www.7-zip.org/
don’t forget to pack the sample(s) with password ‘virus’ without quotes.

Milos

3

In fact, you don’t need any additional program in most cases.

Since Windows 98, you can open Windows Explorer → File → New → Zip.

That creates an empty zip archive. With “drag and drop” you can add to the new archive any file you would want to send, at least in theory.

If the file is already “flagged” to be some malware, Avast would stop you from doing at least part of the normal actions you would normally do on any other file.

So, if Avast let’s you, you can zip the suspect and send it to ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming.

If the suspect is already in Avast chest, then simply right click on it and select the function to send it to Avast labs.

4

There is no specific zip program that is needed, since most of them unzip most formats…

The issue is with the emailing…

If you don’t encrypt the archive, the email provider will be able to scan it, and may reject the sending.
IIRC Gmail will reject the attachment if it contains an exe, regardless of the actual content.

(also, depending on your settings, avast may also detect when sending - i.e. if you have it set up to scan your emails)

For me, 7zip is the easiest method of doing this. When in the archive creation screen, there is a section on encryption.

5

No, send it to virus(at)avast.com…!!!

6

You meant, zip it first (preferably with a password) and then send it by email, with the password included in the email.

That’s not always possible, so uploading it to the ftp with a clear unique name is also a possibility (like “username-virus_suspect-date.zip”).

There is also a contact form for suspect malware / potential false positives.

Opening here a topic in the “Viruses and Worms” subforum is an additional alternative.

In the support section of the website there are several knowledgebase articles about what to do in case of a suspect.

7

See Reply #1… :wink:

8

Yes, I know. It was mentioned several times in this topic already. Your comment was “too direct and short” :), so I just wanted to avoid giving the impression that a simple “send it directly by email and that’s it” with no previous treatment would be enough. It is not enough, for the several reasons already mentioned.

I’m not even sure that the question was so much about sending a potential malware to the labs, or more concentrated in the “which specific zip program would be recommended”. As mentioned, no need for ANY additional program for this, since Windows itself has the capability of zipping.