Computer and Software Support


Email with a file attached 

 

Here is a tip to avoid a virus. It will not guarantee that you will not get a virus but it will help. This also applies to Facebook messenger or other communication means and not just with email. This page talks about email but remember to apply this to other means of correspondence as well.

Don’t assume the email with a file attached is safe because it came from your mother, father, sister, brother, husband, wife, son, daughter or anyone else you trust even if the email came from that person's email address.

That person's computer may have gotten infected by a virus without the person knowing about it. The virus creates an email from your email account, uses the address book from their account to send emails to your contacts. It will then email the virus either with a virus attached or a link to click on. The link will take you to a page to either sign in or download the virus. Friends and/or family that gets the email will assume that the file is safe because it is from you and open the file. Now they are infected and the process repeats itself.

Hackers are also able to make the email look like it came from someone else. Another words, if your dad has an email address of John.Doe@email.com , the hacker can mask his or her email to look like it came from John.Doe@email.com.

Another thing hackers do is take over someone's account and email directly from the person's account.

Some tips to help you protect yourself.

  1. Have an anti-virus software

  2. Make sure the anti-virus software stays updated

  3. Have an anti-spyware software. Some anti-virus software has anti-spyware included.  If it doesn't, install anti-spyware software. You can have more than one anti-spyware installed but you can only have one anti-virus software installed. There is several out there like Malwarebytes from malwarebytes.org

  4. Make sure the anti-spyware is up to date.

  5. Scan the file with your anti-virus software

  6. When you get an email with a file attached, contact the person and verify they actually did send the email with a file attached.

  7. Scan the file with your anti-virus software.

  8. If you get email from someone on a regular basis with files attached, work out a code word between the sender and you. When the sender sends a file to you via email, have the sender include a code word that you two designed (for example, you two decide Daffy Duck) When you get the email with the code word, you know the person actually sent the file (still scan it with your anti-virus in case his system is infected and not know it)

  9. If the email has a file and the code word is missing, contact the sender and verify that he or she sent it. The person might have forgotten to include the code word. If they say they didn't send it, delete the email. Inform the person that he or she may be infected with a virus.

  10. Do not store the code word in a template. The virus may use the template in an email. The code word will need to be manually typed in.