Malware (Was: Re: (no subject))

[Eric "Shubes"]

Kevin Brown wrote:
> Nothing wrong with an exe getting through.  I, on occasion, send things 
> to myself that are small executables (maybe its a perl script wrapped up 
> with par, or a self executing zip file).  Outlook, being the jacked up 
> program that it is, just flat out blocks them.
> 
> Blindly blocking all .exe, .zip, .<xxx> attachments is just an idiotic 
> knee-jerk reaction.  Much like banning violent video games because a few 
> of the millions that play commit an act of excessive violence.
> 
I tend to agree, but remember, one size does not fit all.

There are two ways that mail servers can block attachments, by file 
extention and/or by MIME type.

It's easy enough to get around blocking of file extensions by simply 
renaming the file (before attaching and after receiving). If the 
sender/receiver isn't savvy enough to do that, then they probably shouldn't 
be sending/receiving these types of files.

If the server blocks attachments by MIME type, simple renaming won't work, 
because the server examines the attachment itself to determine what it is. I 
suppose this might be useful in a corporate setting.

-- 
-Eric 'shubes'