

Most malicious files contained in archives are harmless if they are compressed within the SFX archive. Fortunately, now there is an online service with which you can check the file before even opening it and risking infecting your computer. It is very important to know what to do to know whether or not an SFX type of executable should be opened or not.
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How to Check Self-Extracting Archives Before Opening Them There are numerous advantages and disadvantages of working with SFX archives from a user perspective: Like the figure below demonstrates, once the file has been executed, the used does not even have to extract it to become infected – the script automatically sets off with the execution of the file by the user:
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exe file can be downloaded and started by the misled victim. This is similar to the latest strategy used by Cerber ransomware – a web link is uploaded in the e-mail message which then leads to a dropbox account page, where the SFX.

One method which results in the successful spread of these files by e-mail is uploading the SFX archives in cloud accounts that do not check them. This is why cyber-criminals keep developing newer and newer methods to spread them. They are executable files, which means that a program known as File Joiner can combine them with malicious code which will automatically infect the user PC, simply by being opened. The primary reason for this is the effectiveness which the SFX archives bring to the table for the crooks. Some security software and e-mail services are reported even to block all SFX files passing through their servers to completely avoid infection.
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In cyber-security, these types of files are often associated with malware, and this is why some antivirus programs go as far as running the SFX archive in a sandbox to avoid infection via a script. Why Malware Authors Use SFX Files to Infect This is primarily because SFX files are used to infect users by executing a malicious script when being opened by the victim, as the situation with CERBER and other ransomware viruses. Since most SFX files are executable, they are sometimes regarded as high-risk applications by antivirus programs. This is done to give the ability to users who do not have the adequate program to open an archive on their PC, to be able to extract files without a hic-up. Their main purpose is to be able to extract the files that are archived within then similar to what a setup installer wizard does. exe Archive.Īlso known by many in brief as SFX Archives, the Self-Extracting archives are executable applications that have compressed files within them and have the SFX module which is usually displayed as a Microsoft Windows EXE executable file. This article aims to show you how to protect yourself in case you are sent an e-mail or message containing links to SFX Self-Extracting. Why Malware Authors Use SFX Files to Infect Advantages Disadvantages ZipeZip and SFX File Protection – Conclusion
