Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives
Re: blocking .ZIP attachments
From: Jason Richardson <A00JER1 () WPO CSO NIU EDU>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 17:15:27 -0500
We've been blocking them for a month also stating that it would only be temporary. After monitoring the total number of blocked ZIPs for the month - thousands per day - we made the decision to add ZIP to our permanent block list yesterday and announced it to our distributed IT staff. I was frankly amazed that I got buy-in for this decision but we've experienced very little blow-back so far. It is early though... Good luck. --- Jason Richardson Manager, IT Security and Client Development Enterprise Systems Support Northern Illinois University Voice: 815-753-1678 Fax: 815-753-2555 jasrich () niu edu
jcb () LSU EDU 8/19/2004 4:53:20 PM >>>
I apologize if this topic has been discussed before, but I couldn't find any direct mention of this specific issue recently. We have a problem with viruses penetrating the campus "under the radar" so to speak. Before a new virus is detected and the anti-virus update is written, received, and distributed, we have a window of vulnerability. In the past we have lost a considerable amount of time repairing these outbreaks. The vector for many of these infections has been through attachments especially .ZIP's. At first we were intermittently blocking .zip and other attachments; going back and forth between blocking and accepting as each new virus appeared. We found that keeping the zip's blocked had a big impact on minimizing the impact of new virii. We've gotten to the point where we cringe at the thought of unblocking .zip's and would like to make it permanent. Before I propose this to the administration, I wanted to see if anyone could comment on whether they are, or are not, blocking zip's and other attachments and if not, what other solutions they have considered. Thanks. John Borne Asst Dir for System Support Computing Services Louisiana State University ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Discussion Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/cg/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Discussion Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/cg/.
Current thread:
- blocking .ZIP attachments John C Borne (Aug 19)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Jason Richardson (Aug 19)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Smotherman, Brian (Aug 19)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Gary Flynn (Aug 19)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Dave Koontz (Aug 19)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Tim Lane (Aug 19)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments John C Borne (Aug 19)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Davis, Thomas R. (Aug 20)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Theresa M Rowe (Aug 20)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Jim Bollinger (Aug 20)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments F.L.Ferreri (Aug 20)
- Re: blocking .ZIP attachments Matthew Keller (Aug 20)
(Thread continues...)