Recently, a few business were hit by viruses sent via suspicious emails that infected their computers.
I want to help you protect yourself against these and other email viruses. I’ve put together a quick guide to help you better understand what these viruses are and how you and your team can safeguard your computers.
Why do viruses exist?
The main purpose of a virus is to infect your computer in order to damage your programs, hardware and data and to collect private account numbers, personal details and passwords.
How do viruses work?
Most viruses infect computers via hidden attachments in emails. Typical attachments that carry viruses are file types ending with .exe, .scr, .pif, .bat, .com, .vbs and .xlsx. Look out for any suspicious email subject lines or attachments ending with those letters - especially from an unknown sender!
Once you open such an email and attachment, the virus will likely open in the background and run a hidden program. At this point, you may not even know you have activated and infected your computer. From there, the hidden program spreads by passing itself on via email to all of the email addresses you have stored inside your address book. Unknowingly, you could be sending colleagues, partners and clients emails with hidden viruses.
How do you prevent email viruses?
Email virus can be easy to identify. By being aware of the common signs of an email virus, you can prevent them from infecting your computer.
Here are my three prevention tips to help you and your team:
- Be aware of all email attachments: particularly any attachments with .exe file type. Do not click these.
- Treat all emails with caution: always be on the lookout for phishing scam emails and fake websites. If you’re unsure or suspect you’re on a phishing website, double check that the website is secure by looking for “https” in the browser bar. Also make sure that you are on a page with a trustworthy website domain consistent with the company you think you are dealing with.
- If in doubt, don’t click: it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Please send this information to all of your team members. An email virus called CryptoLocker is spreading across Australia at the moment.
If you have any questions or you think you might be infected, please call us on 1300 562 886 or contact us using this form.