Is it OK to not scan password-protected files when I do not know the password

maclac · 2024-03-15T02:22:52+00:00

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When I scan a drive by right-clicking that drive in Microsoft File Explorer (Windows 10- 64 bit) and selecting "Scan with Bitdefender", scanning launches, and continues until it encounters a password-protected file, at which point the scan pauses. Since I typically do not know the password, I select the option to skip all password-protected files, in order to allow Bitdefender to efficiently complete scanning the drive.

My question is: can viruses or malware be hiding in one or more of these password-protected files. Am I leaving my system at risk. If so, what do you suggest I do?

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Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/99184/is-it-ok-to-not-scan-password-protected-files-when-i-do-not-know-the-password

There is no yes or no answer to this question. Password-protected files may or may not carry infections. If you know the password of the file, you can enter it when the scanning window prompts you to do so. If you don't remember the password of a protected ZIP file, it's not an issue because password-protected files cannot extract themselves and cause infections. Additionally, there are some Windows-based files that are password-protected, which can be directly ignored.

Regards

Alexandru_BD

Hello @maclac,

I'll jump in here with more context. Password-protected files belong in most cases to legitimate software. They are protected with a randomly generated password by their developers to avoid reverse engineering for malicious purposes. Most commonly, these are:

• Files that belong to another security solution.

• Files that belong to the operating system.

The password-protected archives require a password so that they can be opened and checked for malware. This notification appears because Bitdefender (or any other security solution) is unable to unpack the contents of such items and scan them. To actually scan their content, these files would need to either be extracted or otherwise decrypted.

When the related notification pops up during the scan, you can:

• Type the password in the corresponding field so that Bitdefender can scan it (if you know the password ofc.)

• Skip the object from that particular scan.

• Skip all password-protected items without scanning them.

Regardless of this, should the contents of the password-protected files be extracted, Bitdefender’s real-time protection would automatically scan them to keep your computer protected. If you want to scan this type of file you’ll have to contact the product manufacturer to provide you with more details on those files. My recommendation is to ignore password-protected archives as they are not infected and are not a threat to a system.

I hope the information is helpful.

Regards,

Alex