How can I tell if JPG attachment has malware?

[anotherme]

How can someone find out if an attachment that is a jpg, pdf, png, ect has malware in it?  This attachment can either be in an email or attached to an online private message?

And if it does have malware is the person safe as long as they don't download it to their Mac?

Thanks!

[treed]

If it's a true JPG, PNG, or PDF that shows a preview in either the e-mail client or browser-based e-mail, then it won't be a danger.

If for whatever reason you can't view it within that context, you'll need to exercise caution opening it. Saving it to the computer won't hurt anything, but you should check to make sure it's actually what you expect it to be before opening. You can do that by selecting the saved file and choosing Get Info from the File menu. If the "Kind" information in the window that opens doesn't match what you think, throw it in the trash.

[anotherme]

On 6/28/2023 at 4:30 PM, treed said:

If it's a true JPG, PNG, or PDF that shows a preview in either the e-mail client or browser-based e-mail, then it won't be a danger.

If for whatever reason you can't view it within that context, you'll need to exercise caution opening it. Saving it to the computer won't hurt anything, but you should check to make sure it's actually what you expect it to be before opening. You can do that by selecting the saved file and choosing Get Info from the File menu. If the "Kind" information in the window that opens doesn't match what you think, throw it in the trash.

Thank you for you response. 

Can I also right click the file and run Malwarebytes from a Mac? I tried, but could not do it for some reason. 

 

[treed]

You cannot do that with Malwarebytes for Mac.