Scams and Viruses: Which Email Attachments Are Safe to Open?

Email scams and viruses are nothing new—threats like phishing emails and malware have been around since the days when services like AOL still dominated the internet and email landscape.

However, while technology has made a firm pivot away from the days of dial-up modems and service-hosted platforms, email remains the method of choice for hackers looking to use ransomware or other malicious software to effectively monetize their exploits or to simply cause harm.

If an attacker manages to get an employee to download and open a malicious file sent as an email attachment, the door will be opened for a variety of incredibly damaging scenarios for your business: data theft, fraudulent wire transfers, and leaking of confidential information are just a few of the possibilities.

Given what’s at stake, it’s not an overstatement to say that email security is more important than ever.

Although it may be tempting to simply ask what types of email attachments are generally safe to open, the answer isn’t so straightforward.