Check for folders that start with a dot (e.g., .hidden ) or have suspicious names that might house background processes. 4. Why would someone use this name?

open a suspicious archive directly on your primary computer.

Is the size realistic? A file containing high-quality videos or large archives of historical documents should be hundreds of megabytes. If it is only a few kilobytes, it likely contains a script or a small piece of malicious code.

If you see files ending in .exe , .scr , .vbs , .js , or .bat , do not click them . These are scripts/programs, not documents or images.

If you are tech-savvy, open the file inside a VM (like VirtualBox) that has no access to your local network or personal files. 3. Inspecting the Contents Safely