File compression

File compression is being used more frequently. Commonly referred to as 'Zipping' after the most popular compression programs (PKZip, and WinZip) this increase in usage is due in no small part to the increasing use of electronic transmission systems to move files between remote parts of the organization, and even around the world at large. A typical Word Processor document can be compressed by 90% or more and thus a file of 1 Megabyte can be reduced to 100 Kilobytes. Sending a zipped file not only reduces the cost of transmission, by taking less time to transmit, but also, by the same token, reduces the risk of transmission error. Companies should be aware, however, that unattractive elements such as viruses can be contained within compressed files, ready to activate themselves as soon as the file is decompressed. Consequently, any Anti-Virus software selected by the organization should be capable of detecting viruses within a compressed file before it is decompressed and brought into the system.