Attachments and Viruses

Sometimes we send or receive files with lots of information on them as an email attachment. This attachment might have a lot of words in it or it might be a photo attachment.

You open an attachment by double clicking where it says attachment or has an icon such as a paper clip. Opening and saving an attachment on your computer is called downloading. You should never download an attachment without checking with an adult.

Sometimes attachments come with viruses in them. In the world of medicine, a virus is something that gets into your body and makes you sick. In the computer world, a virus can make your computer sick! It can erase files that are stored in your computer or even make your computer stop working! You should be very careful about downloading an attachment that might be carrying a virus. There are antivirus programs you can purchase and download into your computer that will check for viruses automatically.