Delete Possible Malware Emails from Mac Mail

[Wade Garrett]

Have several IMAP Gmail accounts I read mail in the Mac Mail email client.

How can I delete suspected malware emails from Mac Mail- but without
opening them?

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[Connor Shannon]

Just go into the folder that has them and click on them and delete them. They only open if you double click. Also I wouldn't worry anyway its a Mac.

[Your Name]

On 2022-06-17 20:54:51 +0000, Connor Shannon said:
> On Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 10:17:21 AM UTC-7, Wade Garrett wrote:
>>
>> Have several IMAP Gmail accounts I read mail in the Mac Mail email client.
>>
>> How can I delete suspected malware emails from Mac Mail- but without
>> opening them?
>

> Just go into the folder that has them and click on them and delete
> them. They only open if you double click. Also I wouldn't worry anyway
> its a Mac.

If you're using the reading pane, then the message will open/display as
soon as you click on them.

[Your Name]

On 2022-06-16 17:17:17 +0000, Wade Garrett said:

> Have several IMAP Gmail accounts I read mail in the Mac Mail email client.
>
> How can I delete suspected malware emails from Mac Mail- but without
> opening them?

Unlikely to be malware - more likely just spam.

Not sure if it will work, but in Mail you could try ...

- clicking on an email you DO want to keep (so that displays
in the reading pane),

- then hold down the Command key and click on each message
you do NOT want to keep,

- lastly, still holding down the Command key, click on the
first message again to unselect it, (I don't know if this
will then display the next message in the selected ones)

- then delete the messages.


Since it is Gmail and IMAP, you could log into the website and delete
them from there instead. Quit Mail first so that it will update itself
when you re-open it after deleting the messages.

[Jolly Roger]

On 2022-06-16, Wade Garrett <Wa...@cooler.net> wrote:
> Have several IMAP Gmail accounts I read mail in the Mac Mail email client.
>
> How can I delete suspected malware emails from Mac Mail- but without
> opening them?

If you're running a recent version of Apple Mail with Protect Mail
Activity enabled in Preferences > Privacy, this isn't something you need
to worry about.

Here's how Apple describes the feature:

---
Mail Privacy Protection

Emails you receive may include remote content that allows the email’s
sender to learn information about you. When you open an email,
information about your Mail activity can be collected by the sender
without transparency and an ability to control what information is
shared. Email senders may learn when and how many times you opened their
email, whether you forwarded the email, your Internet Protocol (IP)
address, and other data that can be used to build a profile of your
behavior and learn your location.

Protect Mail Activity helps protect your privacy by preventing email
senders, including Apple, from learning information about your Mail
activity. When you receive an email in the Mail app, rather than
downloading remote content when you open an email, Protect Mail Activity
downloads remote content in the background by default — regardless of
whether you engage with the email. Apple does not learn any information
about the content.

In addition, Protect Mail Activity routes all remote content downloaded
by Mail through two separate relays operated by different entities. The
first knows your IP address, but not the remote Mail content you
receive. The second knows the remote Mail content you receive, but not
your IP address, instead providing a generalized identity to the
destination. This way, no single entity has the information to identify
both you and the remote Mail content you receive. Senders can’t use your
IP address as a unique identifier to connect your activity across
websites or apps to build a profile about you.

You can disable Protect Mail Activity at any time in iOS and iPadOS by
going to Settings > Mail > Privacy Protection, then tapping to turn off
Protect Mail Activity. On Mac, go to Mail > Preferences > Privacy, then
deselect Protect Mail Activity.

If you choose to disable Protect Mail Activity, the Hide IP Address
feature will still mask your IP address using the same
two-separate-internet-relays design. You can disable Hide IP Address at
any time in iOS and iPadOS by going to Settings > Mail > Privacy
Protection, then tapping to turn off Hide IP Address. On Mac, go to Mail
> Preferences > Privacy, then deselect Hide IP Address.

By using these features, you agree and consent to Apple’s and its
subsidiaries’ and agents’ transmission, collection, maintenance,
processing, and use of this information as described above.

At all times, information collected by Apple will be treated in
accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at
www.apple.com/privacy.
---

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JR

[Percival John Hackworth]

On 17-Jun-2022 at 1:54:51PM PDT, "Connor Shannon" <cshann...@gmail.com>
wrote:

I had my Apple Mail setup to NOT download external links and content when I'm
viewing the new mail headers. This was under MacOS 10.13's Mail. That option
was moved to individual mail account configurations under MacOS 12. Read this
post:

https://www.igeeksblog.com/stop-mac-mail-app-from-downloading-attachments/

If you turn off automatic downloading of attachments, then when you click on
an email to read it's body, it won't download images embedded in the email.
This is a sneaky way for a spammer to know that you read the email as they can
track the IP address of your system in their web server log files. Turning off
downloading automatic attachments means you have to click on them or click a
button to explicitly download attachments.

Malware is usually downloaded as a document rather than an image. If you
attach a Microsoft Office Macro or javascript to a PDF file, you have to
explicitly click on it to download it. If you rename it to a .JPG or .GIF
file, I think mail is smart enough to know that the attachment's "magic
number" doesn't match it's MIME type. I think MacOS' Office apps explicity
won't execute macros unless you enable them. If you don't click on an
attachment, you won't open it.

Before you open a Word document or Excel spreadsheet, you could, if you're
extra paranoid, run the document through a Malware scanner:

http://www.decalage.info/python/oletools

This requires knowlege of git and python.

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[Wade Garrett]

Cool, thanks!

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Why is it that the politicians who want more government control over
your life are the same ones who want you to be disarmed?