Microsoft recently announced that a number of cloud services, including OneDrive and SharePoint, will scan password-protected Zip files uploaded or shared by users.
Cybercriminals have long used archived documents to distribute malware, Microsoft said. Previously, the scanning objects of Microsoft’s cloud service were limited to compressed files without passwords set, and malware spreaders can bypass the inspection of anti-virus engines by setting passwords.
Security researcher Andrew Brandt revealed on Monday that Microsoft began scanning password-protected Zip archives on SharePoint.
He deliberately compressed several malware samples into encrypted Zip files, and after uploading to Microsoft cloud services, the files will be marked for malware.
Note: For users who do not want Microsoft to scan encrypted files, you can try to use different compression formats such as 7-Zip, or use the AES-256 encryption algorithm, etc.
