Email Virus

What Does Email Virus Mean?

An email virus is a virus that is sent with or attached to email communications. While many different types of email viruses work in different ways, there also are a variety of methods used to counteract such challenging cyberattacks.

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Techopedia Explains Email Virus

Email viruses run the gamut – from creating pop-ups to crashing systems or stealing personal data. Email viruses also vary in how they are presented. For example, a sender of an email virus may be unknown to a user, or a subject line may be filled with nonsense. In other cases, a hacker may cleverly disguise an email as being from a trusted and known sender.

In terms of solutions, anti-virus advocates try to help the public avoid viruses by reminding users to use caution when opening unsolicited emails. Spam filters and other tools also help cut down on the spread of email viruses. Anti-virus programs and firewalls are also helpful.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…