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All emails are scanned for viruses. If a virus is found, a message is sent to the recipient indicating which virus was found. Mail will be altered for viruses either because it contains information that was scanned and found to be a virus, or because it contains a dangerous attachment type, or for matching dangerous patterns in the name of files that are attached.
The mail system has antivirus software which is regularly updated to check for the latest viruses. Messages are checked for these viruses and if they are found, the offending part of the message is removed. A message will be sent to the recipient indicating that this has been done and why.
UW-River Falls also bans files with certain file extensions. A file extension is all the characters that follow the last period in the file name. Files with these extensions can hide viruses or malicious programs, and they are not the sort of files people typically send by email. Attachments will be removed if they have any of the following extensions:
| ade adp app asx bas bat chm cmd |
com cpl crt csh exe fxp hlp hta |
inf ins isp js jse ksh lnk mda |
mdb mde mdt mdw mdz msc msi msp |
mst ops pcd pif prf prg reg scf |
scr sct shb shs url vb vbe vbs |
wsc wsf wsh zip* |
* we plan on allowing zip files without passwords in the future, but do not have a timetable for exactly when
If you do need to email someone a document that has one of these extensions, that is still possible with a little extra effort. Rename your file's extension to an acceptable one and then tell the person to whom you are sending it, to rename it again after they receive it. For instance, if you need to send someone a file named assign1.exe, rename it to assign1.ex in Windows Explorer. Then attach the renamed file to an email message and tell the recipient to save and then rename the file again to assign1.exe .
This extra step assures that the recipient is expecting the file and does want to run it. Removing these risky files, allows the mail system filters to protect all of us from computer viruses. If you should need help sending or receiving a file with a banned extension, please contact the IT Services HelpDesk.
If you have concerns or comments about how email is handled at UW - River Falls, please give us your feedback.
Web site comments ![[email link]](/library/images/mail.gif){kind=small} |
Need immediate assistance?
Call the HelpDesk at (715) 425-4357 (HELP) |
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