Viruses and Attachments
Whenever someone sends you an attachment via email you should be careful to make sure you will not get infected by a virus. It is easy to click and open a file with a virus, and if you do not have proper antivirus protection, then your computer will be infected. You may lose sensitive data because of that. You might even be forced to format your hard drive. One way to protect yourself from potential viruses is to know which file types are safe to open and which are not. Here is a short list:
� .doc, .xls, .pub, .ppt are files which can be opened by Microsoft Office. It is unlikely for any of them to contain a virus.
� .htm, .html, .php .jpg, .png, .gif are files that are very popular on the Internet as they are responsible for pages and for displaying images. They will probably not contain viruses as well.
� .mov, .avi or .mpg are video files that are relatively safe when it comes to virus infections; however, some people reported that they can contain spyware. Having a good firewall program should protect you.
� .exe is an executive file type, which means that it can be a software program, but it also may be a virus. This is the file type that is the most likely to contain a virus.
The key principle is to be careful, and do not open any files from people that you do not trust. Remember that .exe is the most dangerous file type. Take proper precautions, and do not let viruses harm your computer.