Role of Malicious Email Attachments in Cybersecurity Attacks

Summary: In this blog, we have outlined some common file types susceptible to malware attacks and other cybercrimes. We have also mentioned types of malware attacks, some symptoms of malware attacks, and possible measures to protect against malicious email attachments.

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What is Malware?

Malware stands for “MALicious softWARE.” It is a software file or a code that has been designed, specifically, by an attacker. The main motto of the attacker is to get the malware delivered over a network to gain access to or damage a victim’s computer system. In other words, the malware provides remote access control to the attacker to gain illegal access to the infected machine. Malware is being created to steal sensitive data.  

Symptoms of malware attack

The following are the symptoms of a malware attack:

Social Engineering is a manipulative psychological technique that exploits people’s trust to gain private information and access in an unauthorized or criminal way. For example, social engineering attacks scam victims into clicking on a malicious link, downloading a malicious file, or making a fraudulent payment. The victim’s computer resource utilization will be abnormally high. Due to this reason, the speed of the operating system (OS) will be reduced. 

Types of Malware

What are Malicious Email Attachments?

Malicious email attachments are becoming a security threat for businesses and organizations. These malicious attachments, concealed as word documents, PDFs, images, video or audio files, etc., are intended to launch an attack on the system of email recipients. If these attachments are opened, they can install viruses, malware, or ransomware on the victim’s computer and delete the entire data. Some malware, such as spyware, are designed to get access to the victim’s computer and steal personal and confidential data, such as login credentials, important files saved on the system, etc. For an organization, it is crucial to identify the threats like malicious email attachments and create awareness about them among the employees. 

How to Identify a Malicious Email Attachment?

Identifying a malicious email attachment is easier if you understand the risk levels associated with different file formats. This is because some file formats such as .exe, .adp, .bat, and .com are more susceptible to malware hosts than others. So, being aware of different file types can help you be more careful when you find them as email attachments.

Following are some file extensions that are commonly sent as email attachments:

Steps for Protection Against Malware Attacks

The Internet and email are the two most common ways malware can access your systems. Hence, you are vulnerable to such attacks if you are connected online.

1. Standard Preventive Measures

While surfing the Internet, stay away from suspicious websites. Set up standard border controls for your organization’s Internet network that can block suspicious emails before they reach employees. These include advanced firewalls, antivirus, and antispam solutions. You can also create a secure virtual environment, also known as a sandbox, where suspicious email attachments can be sent for analysis before they are delivered or deleted. 

2. Look for Common Signs of Malicious Emails

The employees can be trained to look for common signs of malicious emails. These include:

3. Keep the OS and Software Updated

Install and maintain the excellent quality antivirus-antimalware program. Keeping the operating system and software, up-to-date will ensure they are protected against the latest threats. This is because developers frequently patch their software to fix new vulnerabilities they discover. 

4. Deploy an advanced eDiscovery and Email Monitoring Tool

Instead of expecting the employees to be alert and handle emails with caution, you can go one step further – the security operations center team can actively monitor the incoming emails with an email analysis and investigation tool such as Stellar Email Forensic. This tool is an advanced eDiscovery software for email search as it is a pre-emptive measure for administrators as they can review incoming emails for threats by studying the content and message headers. It can also be used as an email forensics tool if and when an attacker launches an attack, for finding the extent of the attack (other emails that contain similar malware attachments), the attack’s origin, etc. Apart from this, Stellar Email Forensic is an excellent tool for bulk emails and deleted email recovery.

These preventive measures can minimize the risk of malware reaching your organization through email.

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