What to open? What not to open? Is it safe to open an attachment, even if it came from somebody you know? Can you get a virus if you don't open the attachment...the message? These are the most frequently asked questions by e-mail users on Eastern's campus. E-mail can be extremely helpful when communicating with your professors, classmates and colleagues. However, e-mail can harbor dangerous and malicious code. Here are a few tips to practice "safe" e-mailing:
Tips for Safe E-mailing
- Make sure your Virus Scanning software is fully updated.
- Do not open suspicious e-mails or their attachments.
- E-mails that contain generic text like "Review the attached file," "See file for details," and "For your review" most likely contain viruses. Always be suspicious of these e-mails.Â
- Turn off the "Preview Pane" option in your e-mail client.
- Most viruses spread through e-mail do not come from the sender associated with the e-mail message. Viruses are "harvesting" e-mail addresses from infected computers and using those addresses as the senders. This is called "Address Spoofing."
