The majority of viruses, malware, spyware and ad-ware we see on peoples computers is stuff they have accidentally installed themselves, by downloading and installing software associated with free; such as games and movies etc.
But there are many other ways for your computer to get a virus, email being one of the big ones.
Can I get a Virus from an eMail
Yes, you can most certainly and lots of people do get viruses from emails.
It is not so much the eMail itself which is giving you the virus, but the attachments they contain.
To add insult to injury if you have got a virus on your computer from an email, it was probably you who opened the attachment and activated (executed) the virus and the person who sent it to you, most likely didn’t even know they sent it.
What is a Virus
A virus is not some sort of special thinking, breathing smart, choice making entity. All a computer virus really is, is a computer program on your computer just like any other program which is designed to do something by a human being.
Unlike legitimate programs, apps and software for your computer, viruses are designed to steal your information, run havoc on your computer, annoy you or some other malicious operative.
What types of Viruses come through in your email
Although any virus can be transmitted via your email, the two main viruses are Worms and Trojans.
They all have some objective, whether they want to spy on you, steal your information or use your computers recourses for their own desire, all can be transmitted over your email.
Your email makes a very good delivery service because just about every person has email on their computer and we are used to sending and receiving files via email, specially from people we know.
Any email program can get a virus, such as Outlook and Thunderbird.
What is a Worm Virus
A worm virus is particularly devastating because once it is designed and released into the world, needs very little interaction from humans.
Worms are able to replicated themselves over and over again, sending themselves via peoples email programs from computer to computer delivering their load and taking advantages of vulnerabilities on peoples computers, operating systems and programs.
Once on your system a worm can use the recourses of your computer to perform its objectives and then send itself to more people on your contacts list and start the cycle all over again.
What is a Trojan Virus
A Trojan virus is a computer program (virus in this case) hides itself inside in another application or under the guise of something else.
You might think you are downloading a a file sent you in an email which helps you perform particular task, when in fact it is pretending to do one thing, but really doing something entirely different in th background.
How can I protect myself against Viruses in eMails
Viruses in eMails can be particularly worrying because a lot of the time we think they are being sent from people we know and in turn we trust those people and open their attachments.
Always read the emails first before opening attachments.
If it doesn’t make sense for someone you know to send you an attachment don’t open it, you can always call them first. If it is some you don’t know, ask yourself, “Why would they send me this”? Don’t open it.
Treat email like you would anything else in the world. If someone knocked on your door you don’t know and offered to give you something if you let them in, would you?
And always keep your anti-virus program up to date. They are 100% effective, but a lot better than nothing!
