How to avoid e-mail viruses

E-mail is the most common way of information exchange among internet users. It is also a common way of entering virus in your device. Here are some common reasons of getting viruses through e-mails and their prevention:

Unexpected or unknown email attachment: An email attachment is the most common way of getting viruses. If you are getting an email from unknown source or any email having untrusted attachment, it is better to delete that mail without opening such attachment for safety purpose.

Forwarded email attachment: If you are receiving any forwarded e-mail with attachment, it is better to scan the attachment first before opening it. It can contain any kind of hazard attachment that may infect your device.

Unexpected file extension: If the file extension attached in the mail does not match with the subject matter or message in the mail, it is better to delete the file. If the sender is trusted, ask the sender for legitimacy.

Up-to-date Antivirus: An updated anti-virus can help to scan your attachment, detect malicious files and help you to protect your device from getting infected.

Disable automatic open attachment: If your email download attached files automatically, disable the feature of automatically download attachment to stay protected and virus free.

Avoid suspicious link: It is better to avoid clicking on any suspicious or unknown link that is mentioned in message body of an email coming from any unknown source.

It is better to back up your data files for the worst condition. In case if any of your file may infected or corrupted, you can recover your data from back up.

Every file in attachment does not carry viruses. Some file extensions like txt, gif, jpg, mp3, wav etc. does not carry executable files so, files having such extensions will be able to transmit viruses. Some files like doc, xls, exe, html etc. may carry executable files so, it’s better to scan and download these files from trusted senders.