There is no doubt email has revolutionized the way we communicate with one another. Millions of emails are transmitted daily throughout the world to everyone connected to the Internet. The question is, how do you know which emails are legitimate and which ones compromise your computer protection and internet security? If you think you know, you may be in for a little surprise.
What if someone told you they could become anyone you know (or any business, for that matter) without your knowledge? Some may think this is ridiculous, but it is not far from the truth. Complete strangers can take your email address and email anyone they wanted... all without knowing your email username and password. If they want, they can even attach malware (short for malicious software) to the emails that can evade antivirus protection and other forms of computer protection. So how do you know if an email came from someone you know versus a complete stranger that just used their email address?
Granted, the majority of email you receive is probably legitimate, but it is important to know the above exists. In fact, malicious emails are most commonly used to exploit your computer protection and personal vulnerabilities in three ways.
1. Entice you to download and run an email attachment with cloaked malware
2. Entice you to open up an email with malicious scripting
3. Entice you to forfeit personal and sensitive information
To protect yourself and your system from these email exploits, you can not strictly rely on computer protection and internet security software since they will never give you 100% security. Knowing this, you'll now learn proper personal and computer protection measures by looking for the appropriate signs of malicious emails.
The first thing to know is each part of an email can be randomly altered either by a hacker or a computer worm to look unique and legitimate. This includes:
1. The To:, From:, CC: and BCC: fields
2. The Subject line
3. The Body text
4. The email attachment name
5. The email attachment extension (i.e. .exe, .zip, etc.)
While antivirus software can not provide 100% computer protection, it definitely helps in detecting malicious emails. Antivirus software aside though, you need to analyze all your email before opening anything. If you don't know the sender, if the subject sounds bogus, or common words or names are spelled awkwardly, it should raise a red flag. Even if the email looks like it came from someone you know, it never hurts to get a confirmation. In short, if the email looks suspicious, don't open it!
Identifying malicious email without attachments or code in them is a different story. These emails are called phishing emails because they lure you to reveal personal information. They usually look like they come from companies and entice you to either click on a web link or call a phone number.
If you stumble into phishing emails, the two most important things to remember are first, never click on links in an email. If an email asks you to click on a web link, open up a web browser and manually type it in. Second, if you are unsure of the email's integrity, go to the company's website, contact their customer service department, and inquire about the email.
While the above are the two core things to always consider when looking for phishing emails, it never hurts to have additional layers of computer protection. With that in mind, download a free legitimate anti-phishing toolbar and make sure your antivirus software has the most recent updates on it.
Email is a wonderful thing; just know that malicious email can bypass computer protection and internet security. With people and computer worms having the capability of emulating any person or company, you always need to stay alert and analyze each and every email. By following these strategies and tactics for identifying emails, you will be steps ahead of the typical Internet user and dramatically increase your computer protection and internet security.
