Automattically save an email attachment

[ChrisHallJJ]

I am looking for an unattended way to download an email attachment to a specified folder on receipt of a mail item. I am using Outlook Express as my mail client. I tried setting up a rule using the rules wizard but that option I need doesn't seem to be there. Does anyone know how to do this?
Thanks, Chris

 

[WizyWyg]

You dont want that to happen. Many virus's act as attachments in Email messages and if you setup anything to auto-save your attachments, you'll be saving a lot of virus's to your computer.

 

[ChrisHallJJ]

Yes actually I do want to do this.... I do not want to open the attachment, I just want to save it. I only want to do this for a specific customer and my virus protection is always current. What I am trying to accomplish is to avoid having a user manually have to perform the "save as" function. Most of our tasks are accomplished in an unattended mode.

Do you know of a way to accomplish this?

 

[WizyWyg]

Again, this is not possible, BECAUSE what you are asking is prone to security issues as well as abuse.

Virus definitions are only updated when the VIRUS' are unleashed. What happens if you happen to get the VIRUS before a definition for it to fight it is released? Then you'll be infected And programs LIKE Outlook(Express) are prone to these kinds of abuses by Virus writers as well as spammers.

No email program does what you want. Everything has always been manual (to save attachments), otherwise, we'd have so many people with infected computers (well, that doesn't change much from current situations), that ISP's would have to shut themselves down to clue these people in.

 

[zbnet]

No, actually there are tools to auto save attachments. (Think about it: an attachment saved to a system folder is no more or less risky than an attachment stored in a mail PST - they're both bit patterns on your disk at the end of the day. What makes an attachment risky is opening it). But these tools mostly work with Outlook (not Outlook Express). See

http://www.slipstick.com/addins/auto.htm

for more details.

 

[WizyWyg]

What makes an attachment risky is opening it)

Acutally that is wrong now. Spammers/Virus writers are acting on Outlook/OE's vulnerabilities to execute their virus/payloads to act even without opening the attachment. Many are executed because the "preview" pane is open (Sasser, netsky variants did this). And since Outlook is defaulted to "allow HTML" (bad bad bad), the virus' are then acted upon in the attachment or within the message themselves (ie hidden link within the email message to "autofresh" to a website or infected computer).

 

[ChrisHallJJ]

WizyWyg,

When you think of it, the security risk is no better or no worse whether you open/save the attachment automattically or manually.... you still have the risk.

I feel that there is still an advantage of saving the attachment automatically (you don't have to expect an employee to remember to do this- especially an issue on the weekend when there is no one working) You will have a risk either way anyway....
Chris Hall