Avoiding Viruses that can come through a Zip file
Of all things that you can come across on the internet, the one thing that you really do not want to cross paths with is a computer virus. While the wish to keep viruses at bay is inherent in the mind of every computer user, it is easier said than done. Viruses can come encompassed in form of harmless files and the zip files are often used as an effective delivery medium. While most of us would not really open a .exe file attached to an email, we would readily go ahead and unzip an archive file without giving a thought. Hackers thus use our inherent trust for zip files to deliver viruses into our system and such compromised zip files can cause huge damage, both to our data and reputation.
Quick tips to check zip files for malicious code
It is not manually possible to check a zip file for viruses and you need use specialized tools do so. To start with, it is always good to have a reputed antivirus application installed on your system. Also the application must be kept up to date through regular updates. Once you download a zip file, make it a point to scan it with your antivirus tool. If a virus alert is generated, follow the onscreen instructions given by the antivirus application to contain the threat. Also if a virus has been detected in a zip file that you downloaded from a particular website, you should avoid downloading files from the same website as a matter of caution.
You also need to ensure that you are using the latest copy of your zip application program as there may be existing vulnerabilities in older versions that hackers have managed to exploit. In addition to the above, you should always avoid opening archive files sent as attachment from unknown senders or those which seem to be promotional mailers. Moreover when you wish to download a free goody, say a screensaver or a wallpaper collection from the internet, which are often compressed together in the zip format, please make sure that the source is a trusted one.
What if the file does not contain any virus and is just corrupted
In some cases you may suspect a zip file to contain a virus, however even after you check it with a reputable antivirus tool, no virus is detected. In such a scenario, there are chances that the file is simply corrupted. Now in case you wish to open the corrupted archive then you need to get hold of a powerful zip repair tool and one of the best tools in vogue today is the DataNumen Zip Repair application. With its sophisticated recovery engine and its capacity to handle large zip files, this remarkable application is way ahead of its class. Besides allowing you to recover the contents of a damaged zip file, this tool can also help you extract corrupted zip files from removable media with effortless ease.
Author Introduction:
Alan Chen is President & Chairman of DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including zip repair and rar repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com .