If we talk about applications to compress and decompress files we have to talk about WinRAR, one of the applications that most users install on their computers, since it is a tool that we can use for private use for free and do not have no type of limitation.
While it is true that Windows offers native support for compressing and decompressing files in .ZIP format, lacking a user interface, many users choose not to use it and trust WinRAR. There are many users who, once they install the application, completely forget to check if it has any new updates every time they use it. Some applications, such as browsers, check every time we run them to see if there is a new version and it is downloaded automatically without the user having to do anything at all.
Others, such as WinRAR, do not do any type of verification so we must carry out this process manually. Taking into account that updates to both operating systems and applications are not only focused on adding new functions but also on correcting vulnerabilities, it is always important to have the latest version available and, in the case of WinRAR, even more important.
At the end of August, a vulnerability was detected in WinRAR that allowed friends of other people to execute code remotely on computers managed by Windows, a problem that was solved with the launch of version 6.23 of this program in addition to another that also It had been used by the friends of others, although not as dangerous as this one.
Shortly after this vulnerability was announced, a small application that exploited this vulnerability was released via GitHub (no longer available) and infected users with VenomRAT. VenomRAT is a program classified as a Trojan within malware and is presented as a Remote Access Tool and the sole purpose is to remotely control the computers it infects.
Due to its functionality, this malware is classified as one of the most dangerous since it can cause serious security problems on any computer, especially when it comes to computers in companies since it can be the gateway to infecting an entire company with ransomware. organization to demand a ransom in exchange for offering the key to decrypt the files.
Update WinRAR to the latest version
WinRAR does not include automatic updates, so we always have to keep an eye on it to know if the company has released a new version to update it. Fortunately, knowing the version number we have and accessing the new versions available is a very simple process following the steps we show you below.
To find out the version number, once we have opened WinRAR, we access the Help menu and inside it, click on About WinRAR. From this same menu, once we know the version number that we have installed, we click on Support and updates so that the default browser that we use on our computer opens with the web page from where we can check what the most recent version of the update and, if applicable, download the new version to install it on our computer.