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Hi, I am new to this community, although I have been using Webroot Secure Anywhere for almost a year now.

I have tried to google if Webroot protects me from the Locky virus, but have not been able to find anything specific on that.

Ever since I have heard about whole hospitals being shut down because of this virus, I have not opened any attachments in my emails. You would presume the hospital IT departments have installed virus checkers on all computers. How could this happen?

 

How much protection does Webroot provide against email attachments and macro viruses?

I have recently started to save email attachments to a special directory in "my documents" then right clicking and scanning them with webroot. Would the act touching the file or the "save as" action infect my computer? Is this a safe procedure before opening documents and spreadsheets? I don't seem to be able to find definitive answers on the web.

 

Henri
Hello henrik47,

 

Welcome to the Webroot Community,

 

WSA is a very smart Antivirus and does not waste time scanning emails but if you open the attachment that comes with the Spam email then WSA would jump in as most malware comes in a zip file which is harmless until opened and executed. Also have a look at this video to see what happens when WSA misses a virus.

 

Please read this Webroot Blog article here https://www.webroot.com/blog/2016/02/22/locky-ransomware/

 

At the bottom of this article ? states Webroot does protect you from this ransomeware.

 

Hope this helps?
Thanks Sherry,

 

I am still nervous about attachments, and new viruses like this Locky trojan. The way I understand it from the link to the blog you sent me, the macro in the document starts an executable file download from a server somewhere on the web. How do viruschecker software companies stay abreast of virus mutations that cause the same devastation?

 

I guess the bottom line is to disable the execution of word and excel macros completely in microsoft office.

 

Henrik
@ wrote:

 

 

I guess the bottom line is to disable the execution of word and excel macros completely in microsoft office.

 

Henrik

 

 

Unless you use macros regularly, disabling macros is definitely a good idea. You mentioned in your earlier post that you save email attachments and scan them. If you suspect that an email is malicious, it is best to just delete the email and not download any attachments at all. Webroot SecureAnywhere will not detect the document or spreadsheet file itself, but will detect and block a malicious payload if you run a malicious macro. You can see an example of how that works here:

A look at a typical macro infection

 

-Dan
Thanks, Dan...had not seen that one before...very informative. :D

 

Baldrick
Thank you as well ?, 😉

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