Microsoft Exchange will soon block ISO files by default
With the addition, the number of blocked files edges close to a hundred
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In order to thwart attempts by threat actors to sneak inmalwareinside certain files,Microsoftis appending ISO files, along with a couple of others, to the list of file types that won’t be allowed to land in the inbox ofMicrosoft Exchangeusers.
ISO files are increasingly emerging as a popular enclosure for circulating malicious files and documents.Cybersecurityexperts have warned that whileWindows 10can mount ISO files without relying on third-party tools, its contents aren’t usually scanned by theoperating system.
In fact, in arecent attack, threat actors relied on this behavior to pass compromised versions of documents that escaped Microsoft Office’sProtected Viewprotections just because they were rolled inside ISO files.
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To prevent such attacks, Microsoft has tweaked the default policies of Microsoft Exchange to make sure that all emails with ISO file attachments are now automatically quarantined, giving users some pause to approach them more cautiously.
More lethal than useful
According toMSPowerUser, the policy change in Microsoft Exchange will begin rolling out early next month in October, and is slated for completion towards the end of the month.
In addition to ISO files, Microsoft has also decided to include the .cab files, as well as .jnlp files to the list of file types banned by Microsoft Exchange, particularly for their increased use for malicious activities.
The .cab files are archive files that don’t find much use as a general-purpose archive format. On the other hand, the .jnlp files can launch Java programs over the web on any computer that has a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed, making them more lethal than useful from a cybersecurity perspective.
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With the addition of the three file formats, the total number of file types blocked automatically by Microsoft Exchange has now reached 96.
ViaMSPowerUser
With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.
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