A file may contain a virus, and by using the virus present in the file, a hacker can easily hack your device. And the chances of being attacked using a file increases while using an application, because an application may contain vulnerability, and if the vulnerability is exposed to hackers, then they can easily exploit the vulnerability to gain access to your device.
• Never open a file which is sent by a stranger.
• Never open a suspicious file.
• Never download an application from a third party website.
Sometimes it becomes our necessity to open a suspicious file, in that situation we can use any one of the following tools to avoid getting hacked while opening a suspicious file.
1. Qubes:
Qubes OS is a free and open-source, security-oriented operating system for single-user desktop computing. Qubes is a very secure operating system because it has different security domains for different purpose. It is extremely strong against social engineering attacks. Qubes is regarded as the most secure operating system. You can create different domains for different purpose, and if your X domain gets hacked then your Y domain wouldn't be compromised, for instance, if you want to open a file which looks suspicious, then you can open that file in the disposable domain, a domain particularly created for that file, and once the file is closed, the disposable domain will automatically get destroyed.
2. VirtualBox: The purpose of using VirtualBox is same as the purpose of Qubes, but instead of having different domains in one operating system, VirtualBox can be used to install different operating systems inside one operating system. You can use all the installed operating systems for different purpose.
FULL GUIDE FOR VIRTUALBOX
3. Hybrid Analysis: Hybrid Analysis is a free malware analysis service that detects and analyses unknown threats using a unique Hybrid Analysis technology.
FULL GUIDE FOR HYBRID ANALYSIS
4. Kaspersky: Kaspersky is an anti-virus which includes real-time protection, detection and removal of viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, adware, keyloggers, malicious files and rootkits.
FULL GUIDE FOR KASPERSKY
5. QuickHash: Quickhash is a simple hash verifier with a GUI (Graphical User Interface). Quickhash can be used to verify text, file(s), disk(s).
FULL GUIDE FOR QUICKHASH