delete e-mail attachments in outlook

[Atticus|1]

I think even the free version of zone alarm does just that.

Edit - I`m in no way shape or form suggesting to use Zone Alarm, I was just using that as an example.

[swj]

We are putting a firewall in place next week. I wasn’t aware that it could be configured to examine e-mail communication. I will definitely look into that.

Thanks for the advice. As I am new to network administration I find that you learn much more from others on web sites like this than you would in any classroom.

[mohaughn]

Originally posted here by swj
Thank you for the replies so far.

I do use symantec anti-virus on our network. It works fine. It always catches the bug. But I am worried that one day one of my users will download mail that has a virus the scanner is not ready for. The speed that these viruses are spreading is a big problem.

I want to strip file attachments that could be problems from the e-mail. The outlook security features only block attachments from user access. The attachments are still downloaded with the mail. If a user opens the e-mail with a virus packed attachment the virus is then activated.

There are products out there that you can buy to do this but I dont use an in house e-mail server and to outfit my 50+ users with special software would cost a great deal.

I am looking for any suggestions or direction that would work with MS outlook and are cost effective.

There is no native way to remove files with certain attachment types from within Exchange. If you are running an Exchange AV product that uses VAPI you can specify that all files with certain exceptions be removed. Symantec, McAfee, and Trendmicro Exchange AV products all have this type of capability.

We are putting a firewall in place next week. I wasn’t aware that it could be configured to examine e-mail communication. I will definitely look into that.

Not all firewalls will inspect SMTP emails looking for specific attachment types to block. In fact, most of the high end firewalls are not looking at anything above a packet level. There are certain types of SMTP "firewalls" that allow you to build what is known as an email virus firewall. This keeps all of your email scanning out at the edge of your network.

I just saw this-

There are products out there that you can buy to do this but I dont use an in house e-mail server and to outfit my 50+ users with special software would cost a great deal.

If you do not manage the mail server yourself there is very little that you can do to have these items removed before they ever hit the client desktop. You should ask your email vendor if they have the ability to selectively block attachments for you.

[nihil]

Hi swj,

You have had some very good advice so far, so please do not think that this is a contradiction.

Have you thought about approaching it from the "opposite direction" like "I don't care what they open/download..........I will stop it from running"?

AnalogX have a thing called "script defender" I think.................not sure if it is still around........there are several others that do the same sort of thing...............I know I have one where you can modify the file extensions that it will allow to run

Might that be a useful "second line of defence", which is really what I am suggesting, I suppose.

If you are interested in this line of approach and cannot find what you want, please let me know and I will check out the latest versions for you.


It would help to know what OSes your users are on, as I am suggesting a "rearguard" type solution, which is on the desktop...............that is why I said do not ignore the other (server side) advice

Cheers

[Tiger Shark]

WatchGuard firewalls use SMTP proxy and examine the content. I can't believe that they are the only one - just the only firewall appliance I have had any real experience with.