Email is a medium as interesting as it is dangerous. It is a reality that today is a means of communication widely used by private users and also by companies. We can be in contact with friends and family, send messages to companies, receive information … Now, it should be noted that it is also widely used by hackers to carry out their attacks. We will talk about it in this article. We will explain what types of files are most used lately to infect us through an e-mail .
E-mail can be a threat
Every day we receive and send many emails . Not all of them will be safe, logically. We can receive an e-mail from an unknown source and have a file attached that puts our entire system at risk. Luckily we have many tools available to protect us. But of course, hackers also improve their techniques to achieve their goal.
Therefore we can say that today e-mail is a threat to our security , especially if we do not take action. Therefore it is convenient to know how they can infect us especially when receiving an email with an attachment.
In this article we will talk about it. We are going to echo a report that indicates what are nowadays the attached files that may represent a greater threat. This way we will be alert and can identify one when it arrives in our inbox.
Most common dangerous files in the e-mail
It is through a simple attachment in an email that our team can be compromised. However, not all files are equally likely to be a threat.
According to this report that we echo, 56% of all threats that reach a Gmail email is through a Microsoft Word file. As we know it is something widely used by users. Hackers can use tactics for the victim to open it, as it may indicate that it is an unpaid invoice or similar.
Excel files are also very present in these threats. They work similarly to Word and may contain information from an alleged invoice or any data that in theory should be relevant. Cyber criminals will look for ways to enable macros or download those files.
They also indicate that another type of malicious file that can reach our e-mail is PDF . In this case, yes, it only represents 2% of the total threats.
On the other hand we can also mention the EXE files. As we know, these are executable files that can infect our system. Precisely this type of files is usually blocked by our e-mail providers.
How to avoid being victims of this problem
Without doubt the best and most important is common sense . Sometimes we may receive emails that have files attached that may be a threat to our security. It is essential that we always keep in mind the importance of knowing how to identify this problem and not compromise our security. We should never download or open files like the ones we have mentioned without really knowing who is behind that address.
It is also necessary to have security tools . A good antivirus can prevent the entry of threats that may affect us. As we know there is both free and paid security software. They are present for all types of devices and operating systems.
Finally, another aspect that must be taken into account is the importance of always installing security patches and updates that are available. Sometimes vulnerabilities may arise that are exploited by hackers to carry out their attacks. It is the developers and manufacturers themselves who release security patches and tools. It will be necessary to install these updates and never compromise our data.
