Re: The paranoid user's security guide for using Electrum safely.
⭐ Merited by JayJuanGee (1)
What's this about the autoplay function being a big risk? I run Windows but I'm not sure if I have that activated or not. I'll check after I post this, but it isn't clear to me what the danger is.
When you insert an USB drive, you’re asked if you’d like Windows to open the folder for you or do other actions. If you insert an install disc now, you’ll find out there’s also the option for Windows to AutoPlay the disc which basically makes Windows execute a .exe. If the disc has music on it and you choose Windows should automatically play the disc, it’ll launch those files by itself. But you also have the checkmark under the launch options in case you’d like Windows to do the same thing every time (e.g. you want Windows to automatically open the folder showing contents of a USB drive when you insert one). Now I guess you get why it’s a risk 
Back in the day, it was also a really popular vector for infecting computers with malware. You'd receive a sketchy USB stick or find it somewhere on the ground, and then insert it into your PC, and *bam* you're compromised. Sometimes you might even accidentally infect your USB by sticking it into some infected work computer somewhere and plugging it inside somewhere else. And the malicious files are using OS properties to "hide" themselves.
The only reason this is falling out of favor is because most people are using mobile devices now (which do not support Autoplay).