Downloaded zip but not opened. Threat?

snovosel

Hello, we clicked on a link from a cleverly disguised phish which resulted in a zip file getting downloaded to a Win 11 laptop protected by BitDefender. We clicked on the zip file, which asked us to enter a password that was indicated in the original email. At that point, we looked more carefully at the email and realized this was a phish and so we didn't go any further -- the zip remained zipped and we deleted it, then ran full system scans (and every other BitDefender scan we could find). Nothing shows up as a problem, an infection, etc. Does this mean that we are in the clear or is there something else that we should be doing to be certain we didn't accidently download something hazardous when we downloaded the zip file?

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/98400/downloaded-zip-but-not-opened-threat

As of now you are all clear.

As an additional measure you can follow below stated steps:

1) Restart your PC in safe mode. You can follow this guide: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234

2) Open the Run command and execute the following commands one by one:

temp – delete all the files in the folder.

%temp% – delete all the files in the folder.

prefetch – delete all the files in the folder.

3) Restart your PC in normal mode by unselecting the option to run the system in Safe Mode, then click 'Apply.'

4) Reset your web browsers:

Google Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3296214?hl=en

Mozilla Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

Microsoft Edge: https://malwaretips.com/blogs/reset-microsoft-edge/

Opera: https://browsersolution.com/reset-opera-browser

Vivaldi: https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/install-update/full-reset-of-vivaldi/

Brave: https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017903152-How-do-I-reset-Brave-settings-to-default-

5) Reset the Windows host file to default. You can find instructions here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-reset-the-hosts-file-back-to-the-default-c2a43f9d-e176-c6f3-e4ef-3500277a6dae

6) Run Disk Cleanup using this guide: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/disk-cleanup-in-windows-8a96ff42-5751-39ad-23d6-434b4d5b9a68

Regards

Alexandru_BD

Hello,

If the archive was not opened and nothing executed, you should be fine, especially if Bitdefender didn't find anything malicious during the scan. Here you will find some useful tips that will help you recognize these attacks easily in the future:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2204/

Regards,

Alex