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Among the most popular and useful functions of the internet is email. Not only could people send messages to practically anyone all over the world, they can also send digital files such as pictures, sounds, and programs. However, much caution must be taken when opening such attachments because the internet is teeming with malicious minds that craft ways of inconveniencing people, or even getting something of value from them.

What are the dangers of opening email attachments without caution?

While a lot of email attachments, especially those that come from your contacts, may typically just contain innocent stuff such as pictures of your friends, the latest music from your favorite band, or spreadsheet reports from your colleagues, email attachments may also come with things that could damage your computer. Among such things are viruses and spyware.

Every day, people in the online community discover new viruses, worms, and Trojans – software packets that are designed by malicious hackers to do damage to your computer. These programs usually attach themselves to unknown files that are sent to your inbox, and when you open them, you are often unaware that you are already triggering some damage to your

Several news in the past have shown how, in isolated cases, regular mails can be quite dangerous.  There were some letter and package bombs which exploded when opened.  Anthrax, which made quite a stir some years back, poses the same danger.

Such cases are not exclusive to regular mails.  Threats, although not in the same form, may also be encountered in emails.  Given this, it is important that one takes special care as well in opening any of these, especially those with attachments. 

What is common between a regular mail and an email when it comes to this matter is that senders of unsolicited mails often use return addresses which appear familiar.  It may be similar to the home address or email address of someone you know and they often create subject lines which are attention grabbing.  This is one form of social engineering which, if not properly employed, is quite dangerous. 

Viruses and worms can easily be passed through email.  These are often the contents of unusual email attachments.  To prevent you from getting any of these, here are some criteria that you can follow before opening and reading an email:

•    The email