Password protected archives and PDF attachments
Password protected archives and PDF's present a challenge to virus scanning, as they are encrypted. For this reason, the contents of their files are un-readable to our virus scanner.
On the surface, the fact that they are encrypted seems great - and secure.
The danger is that some virus / malware authors will exploit these secure files through social engineering.
Consider a message like:
Dear friend, for some important information and videos please check out the attached file. The password is "hotstuff" without the quotes.
Sending a password with the file it's intended to protect invalidates the password, so this message is very likely either Spam or Malware.
The onus is on the recipient to consider the risk, and to ask themselves if this makes sense. You could contact the sender to confirm, or delete it if it is suspicious.
Major couriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.) will send a link to their web site, or better still, ask you to log in to your account. They do not send encrypted invoices as attachments, and even if they did, they would never send the password.
Please consider the risks to your computer before you open any attachments or follow any instructions sent by someone untrusted.
PDF attachments are notorious amoung System Administrators for containing Malware / scripts that take advantage of scripting features in Adobe Acrobat. Prior to opening any suspicious PDF's, please ensure your Acrobat is up to date, or consider using an alternative program such as Sumatra PDF which does not support scripting at this time.
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