There are various reasons on why some people spread viruses through email, but there are also lots of ways on how to avoid viruses in emails. These viruses can damage your computer and may lead to loss of files which is why being wary and smart when it comes to how you use your email is a must.
Today, using your email to send messages and communicate with people for business or personal purposes is one of the most common ways to keep in touch. Unfortunately, there are also risks which come with emailing, and some of them are unavoidable. By knowing how to avoid viruses in emails, you can save yourself the trouble of having to reformat your computer or change your email address altogether. Here are some tips you should follow:
Open only emails from contacts or expected people – If you ever receive an email from someone you do not know or are not expecting to hear from, your best course of action would be to not open this email altogether—especially if the subject entices you to. Some will go along the lines of “You’ve won…” or “Great opportunities meant for YOU!” and no matter how catchy these email subjects are, it would be better to not open them at all. You don’t know the sender, and it would be their loss, not yours if you skip their email.
Do not open attachments from suspicious emails – Should you ever accidentally click on a fishy email or perhaps open it out of curiosity and find that this email has an attachment of any kind, do NOT download the attachment because this is where the virus would be. Downloading the attachment is like inviting the virus to your computer, and you would definitely want to avoid that.
Do not click on links – Say you receive an email from a friend or someone you know and there’s a little link somewhere which they made no mention of. Do not click on this link because it may lead you to pages which will prompt the malware attack on your computer. Scrutinize the link and see if the address is from a recognizable page. If not, do not click it especially if your contact didn’t mention it. If you find a link in any other email from people you do not know, you should not click on that link either.
Keep your antivirus updated – As an extra layer of protection from email viruses and other kinds of viruses, always keep your antivirus system updated and make sure you have the option for scanning compressed files from emails, scanning downloads, and warning of malicious links and online pages. This way, you can avoid the trouble of having to deal with viruses that you can get online.
Practice being more aware of how you use your email and choosing which emails to read. Have you ever had to deal with a virus which you got from an email? How did you deal with it? Feel free to share your experience; we’d love to hear it!