Emails can have files attached to them and this is most commonly indicated by a paperclip icon next to the email title. You might also see file icons at the top or bottom of the email message. Beware of email attachments because some contain malware and will infect your computer.
Bad attachment example
Here is an example of malware spread through email messages.
1 A suspicious email
This email is from a well known utility company in the UK that provides gas and electric. It has millions of customers and regularly sends out emails to them.
Attached is a file, which looks like it is an electricity bill. The message looks genuine, but you should always be suspicious of emails with attachments.
The email is being viewed using a web browser on Outlook.com. The site has blocked parts of the message for safety reasons and this shows how using webmail like Outlook.com and Gmail can help to prevent phishing, scams and malware.
2 Don’t unblock bad emails
Outlook.com has already identified this email as bad and has blocked it. Not all email services do this, so let’s see what happens when it is unblocked.
Don’t do this yourself. This is an example of how malware is spread using email.
3 Don’t download the attachment
The content has been unblocked (never do this yourself) to show what happens. Not all email services or software on your PC will block attachments like Outlook.com and Gmail do.
You might find step 2 is skipped and on selecting an email you go straight to step 3 and the download.
4 It’s a virus!
Outlook.com scanned the email attachment and found a virus. It will not download.
In this case Outlook.com blocked the attchment and would not download it. If you are using a different email provider they might not check attachments for viruses and might not prevent them from being downloaded.
Take care with email attachments and avoid them wherever possible. If you want to share files with people you can share them using OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and similar online drives.
Next: How to spot phishing emails, with examples
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Course Contents: Windows 10 Security Guide
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