When you download an attachment, your computer presumes that you know what you're doing. Consequently, your firewall won't check the attachment to make sure that its safe, which leaves just a cursory scan by your email client as the only protection between an attachment and your computer. Given the low level of security surrounding attachments, it's no surprise that hackers often try to hide their harmful programs in spam email attachments. In fact, an estimated 90 percent of viruses enter computers this way. Given those stats, it is important to always follow best practices when handling all email attachments in your Inbox.
Suggestions:
- Do not open attachments from strangers, or even from well-known companies, no matter how official or familiar the email appears to be. Spammers often use very creative techniques to make their emails and their attachments look legitimate, and they are getting increasingly good at it. So simply closely examining emails with attachments before downloading is no longer a sufficient security strategy. Instead, you should adopt a strict no attachment policy from strangers or companies, and go to the company website directly to get the needed information instead.
- If a friend's computer is infected, it's possible that you'll receive email with virus-infected attachments that appears to be (or actually is) from them. Thus, a familiar sender alone is not enough to ensure that an attachment is safe. If you're not expecting an attachment, call, IM or VoIP the person to verify that they intended to send it before you open the attachment.
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