One of your co-workers calls you to ask if you sent her an e-mail message with an attachment. You recall that you sent several c-mails with attachments earlier that day. Which of the following is…

Question

Options

• AAsk your co-worker to open the attachment and describe the contents.
• BAsk your co-worker to read the e-mail message including the full name of the attachment and its
• CAsk your co-worker to forward the e-mail to you so you can open the attachment and check it.
• DAsk your co-worker to forward the e-mail to your company's management.

• A
  6% (3)
• B
  70% (33)
• C
  19% (9)
• D
  4% (2)

Explanation

Option B is correct because it allows you to safely verify whether the email is legitimate - by having your co-worker read the sender details, subject line, and full attachment filename, you can confirm whether it matches something you actually sent without anyone opening a potentially malicious file. Option A is dangerous because it asks the co-worker to open an unknown attachment, which could execute malware if the message is a phishing attempt impersonating you. Option C creates a double risk: forwarding a suspicious email spreads it further, and then opening the attachment yourself exposes your own machine to the same threat. Option D is a disproportionate escalation - you haven't even confirmed whether the email is suspicious yet, making management involvement premature and unnecessary.

Memory tip: Think "Describe before you click." When verifying a suspicious email, the safest first step is always getting a verbal or written description of its contents - never opening attachments - until you can confirm legitimacy.

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