Email is a widely used means of communication. This is something that is part of the day-to-day life of both private users and companies. Now, the fact that something is so popular also opens the door for hackers to use it. They can send e-mail attachments in order to steal information, infect our systems, and steal passwords. We are going to explain what files we should not download from an e-mail we receive.
Dangerous e-mail files
Cybercriminals are constantly updated to seek new strategies and methods to carry out their attacks. They seek how to get into our systems, steal access codes and compromise privacy. But if there is something that they use a lot to achieve it, it is email .
Simply sending an email with a malicious document could infect our computer. This would allow hackers to steal data, passwords and have control of the system.
Microsoft Office documents
A method widely used by hackers to infect computers and sneak malware is the use of Microsoft Office documents. For example we talk about Word or Excel . We can receive supposed false invoices, files with information related to our account and some problem that has occurred and they use it as a hook, etc.
With these files, through macros, they can execute different attacks that compromise our security. Hence the importance of not downloading these attachments that come to us by e-mail. It is important to maintain security.
PDF files
PDF files are also widely used for attacks. Like Microsoft Office documents, they can hide malware. It is a format widely used to execute malicious commands that compromise our computers.
This means that if we see an email with a PDF file attached, we must always make sure who the source is and whether it really is a legitimate document or has been used to try to sneak malicious software.
Images
Even images , a simple photo, can be used to deploy cyber attacks. They are also part of the range of options used by hackers. That is why it is another of the types of files that we must avoid downloading when receiving an e-mail without making sure beforehand. They are among the top dangerous archives by mail.
ZIP files
It is true that ZIP files by themselves are not dangerous. In fact, they cannot be executed as easily as the previous ones. However, it is common for cybercriminals to use them to store .EXE and other extensions. It is by extracting the content of these files that we could run malware.
Ultimately, these are the main types of files that we should avoid downloading from an email, unless we know 100% that it is something legitimate. But there are more extensions that are used to launch attacks and that we must avoid. For example, BAT, VB, REG, MSI … Therefore, we always advise to keep your computers protected, up-to-date, and thus avoid them from exploiting certain vulnerabilities that appear.
