Many experts recommend turning off email scanning in antivirus software since it provides no added protection and corrupts and destructs email folders much more often than viruses and other malware do.

Set your antivirus software to ask what to do or to at least only quarantine infected files rather than to automatically delete or 'repair' them.

Use an antivirus program that's compatible with Thunderbird (listed below).If you view it as plain text, there is nothing to interpret (unless you click on a link in the message or open an attachment) Viruses and scripts rely upon the email client interpreting the message. For example, reading a message in your junk mail folder to confirm whether it's really spam. Opening attachments is the major risk, but consider using 'View -> Message Body As -> Plain Text' to view a message as plain text whenever you're going to read a suspicious message. Be especially careful if the e-mail is not a new one and is being forwarded.

This gives your antivirus program's manufacturer a chance to provide a necessary update. Unless the e-mail is job-related or otherwise important, consider waiting a while before opening the attachment. If you have any suspicions about the origin or authenticity of a message, do not open any attached files until you have checked with the sender.ĭo not check (enable) 'View -> Display Attachments Inline'. Be alert for messages where the sender's address is spoofed (the message appears to have come from one source but in fact was sent from somewhere else) or where the attachment is announced in a way that sounds suspiciously generic (e.g., 'Hi, here's the file you wanted') both techniques are commonly used by the creators of malware to trick you into opening the attachment. To protect yourself against new e-mail viruses, open e-mail attachments only if you trust the sender and if the sender announces the attachment. Preventing infection In this article, 'virus' means any malware program, including worms, trojans, etc.ĭespite talk of 'heuristics', most antivirus programs do not provide protection against rapidly spreading new malware infections before the antivirus companies manage to provide appropriate updates.

Avast and thunderbird email