An old WinRAR is still causing hacks because users are not updating their WinRAR. Two hacker groups are targeting victims. Use this method to protect yourself.
When I ask them why, they always say they had downloaded or received a RAR file at some point, which they didn’t know what to do with until they looked it up and installed WinRAR to extract them. After that, they learned that RAR was better than ZIP for compressing files, causing them to use that instead of ZIP.
I usually respond with 7-Zip is better than WinRAR in terms of compression, while still being able to extract RAR files, which doesn’t always win people over because these are non-technical people that are usually hesitant to install new software unless they actually need to.
None of these people knew each other when they first started using WinRAR, so I think this is actually pretty common.
Edit: with that being said, it probably happens less often now that Windows 11 can natively extract RAR files.
Most of the clippy pfp people won’t switch away from WinRAR, just like they won’t switch away from Windows 10 no matter how many vulnerabilities it gets
Tldr. Update WinRAR.
Better option, uninstall WinRAR and use something more sensible like 7zip.
I’m more of a PeaZip person myself.
I like Nanazip
Full list of options…before this turns into a long list of options: https://alternativeto.net/software/winrar/?license=opensource
Laughs in
tar.gzI’ll just uh… Leave these here.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/wide-ranging-7-zip-vulnerability-with-8-8-cve-rating-allows-for-code-execution-hundreds-of-millions-of-machines-potentially-at-risk
https://cybersecuritynews.com/7-zip-rce-vulnerability-exploited/ (another similar CVE from late last year)
I use 7-zip myself, and have for over a decade, but it too has like… A major CVE around once every six months - worse than WinRARs record actually.
Its no silver bullet.
Not a silver bullet but the functionality of 7zip is far greater then WinRAR.
I was just about to post “Who the fuck still uses WinRAR?”
Orgs who haven’t updated their processes in 20 years and still have a valid license.
License? I thought the point was to see how high the number went every time you opened it.
Until you are a business and you get reamed by legal for using unlicensed software putting the business at legal risk.
A few people over time have sent me RAR files.
When I ask them why, they always say they had downloaded or received a RAR file at some point, which they didn’t know what to do with until they looked it up and installed WinRAR to extract them. After that, they learned that RAR was better than ZIP for compressing files, causing them to use that instead of ZIP.
I usually respond with 7-Zip is better than WinRAR in terms of compression, while still being able to extract RAR files, which doesn’t always win people over because these are non-technical people that are usually hesitant to install new software unless they actually need to.
None of these people knew each other when they first started using WinRAR, so I think this is actually pretty common.
Edit: with that being said, it probably happens less often now that Windows 11 can natively extract RAR files.
The same people who stay on Windows 10 even though it will stop getting security updates: nostalgics
Most of the clippy pfp people won’t switch away from WinRAR, just like they won’t switch away from Windows 10 no matter how many vulnerabilities it gets
Better option: move to Linux, also dump rar