|
E-mail security is one of the most essential forms to keep your computer secured. Viruses and worms invading your machine to ruin it completely are common nowadays. Users should be aware of a few basic rules that can help keep viruses at bay. E-mail attachments can bring malicious programs which can render your system useless over a certain period of time. This article is about some rules that users should adopt without any delay to prevent viruses and worms through e-mails. Know the file extension Before opening any attachment, check the type of file it contains. It is very important to comprehend the file extension since any file of the format .exe or other executable type can infect your machine. On Windows, file extensions are generally smothered which complicates file identification for users. Ensure that viewing of file extensions is turned on. In case you are not aware of how to do it, refer to the tutorials on the internet. Avoid downloading of executable file types Avoid opening executable file types attached to mails as much as possible. E-mail attachments are one of the most preferred platforms for worm intrusion. The sender may have an infected computer without his knowledge. In such a case, the sender himself may be unaware of the malicious e-mail being sent out from his/her machine. Moreover, spoofing sender’s address to send a malicious mail is a common practice among rogues these days. You are therefore advised not to download executable file types unless there is an absolute need. Turn off automatic opening of attachments Your Microsoft Outlook or webmail can be configured to auto-open attachments as soon as you open the particular mail. This does not give you the scope to check the attachments before opening. Avoid this practice. Never open an attachment without prior examination. Find the settings tab to disable automatic opening of attachments. Scan attachments for virus prior to opening Do a virus scan of all e-mail attachments individually before you open them. You can set the antivirus program to scan e-mails and attachments automatically if you want to save time. Do not ignore this just because you are familiar with the sender. E-mails can bring viruses to your machine even without the sender’s knowledge. Protect mail clients Microsoft Outlook has lot of security loopholes that are exploited by cyber criminals to inject malware into the machine. Beware of mail clients that support HTML and scripting since they hold the maximum chance of causing a hazard. Beware of unusual emails from companies you do business with It is common these days to get e-mails from trustworthy organizations that requestyou to login to a file or to the company’s site to enter confidential data required for some official purpose. Hackers can get you in by making a page that imitates the company website flawlessly and demands a reply so that you are duped completely. These mails should always be avoided. Genuine organizations will seldom ask you to give personal data via e-mails because it is the most vulnerable medium for communication. Get new Security Patches periodically Security patches are released by Microsoft and other software manufacturers periodically. You can find plenty of them from the Windows Update website. It is a site which does an automatic scan of your machine and suggests updates that are required for your operating system. Do not ignore updates that are marked as ‘Critical’. These updates should be installed as soon as they are launched. Users are advised not to delay them. To ensure better protection of your system, visit Windows Update site once every fortnight. E-mail attachments are one of the most preferred platforms to infect computers. Hackers nowadays also send forged links through mails, which on clicking can lead you to unsafe sites. Beware of attachments and such links. Take caution before downloading and installing any executable file types. Install Windows and antivirus updates regularly. Disregarding them can lead your machine fall prey to cyber crimes. To know more on e-mail security you can refer to the various websites and forums on the internet.
Related Articles -
online tech support, online pc support, Compaq online support, online pc repair, remote computer support, remote pc repair, computer support,
| 
