Can you get hacked via email?

Ok, so these are probably stupid questions, but I'm concerned right now. You see, I got an email from someone I haven't talked to in like 7 years, but it was just a bunch of seemingly random letters inside. There weren't any attachments. I hit spam, logged out, logged back on, changed my password, deleted any relevant information in my email, then restarted my computer.





Can you get hacked via email?


If so, can the hacker do it without an attachment?


Am I worrying for nothing?

Can you get hacked via email?
If you were using the webmail interface then there was little if any danger. The fact that it looked like random letters indicates that it likely had an attachment. For whatever reason, it was apparently damaged. This could have been a failed email worm or just a screwed up attachment and you just marked your old friend as spam for some stupid reason. You might look into marking them as not being spam and sending an email back. Their computer might be infected.





Can you get hacked by email? Yes. There is any number of ways for it to happen. I won't list them, but lets just say I know a few and ways to to learn others. Possibly the easiest would be to fake an email from a friend and send you a "cool program" as an attachment.





If you view email as a web page inside outlook express or other mail program, then yes. The package is loaded from the web page links embedded in the email. If you view your email through a web page, it is less likely since the server is reading the page and you are viewing it indirectly. The webmail interface provides a thin layer of insulation.





Are you worrying for nothing? Yes. I think you overreacted. Since you didn't know what it was, you essentially ran away from it in an electronic sort of way. Fear of the unknown is possibly the most common fear. Education will remove that fear or at least reduce it. Next time don't report your friend as spam. Take a look at the email and see what it is.





A school computer? You are probably behind a NAT (network address translation) router/firewall that drops everything or nearly everything. Firefox is pretty good and immune to most attacks. AVG would most likely catch it if it was a worm or other malware. You'd have to be hit with a zero day attack or something nearly unknown in order for AVG or any other anti-virus to miss it.





I think I covered just about everything. Next time maybe you won't run away unless there really is a problem.





Shadow Wolf
Reply:Getting hacked via email can be possible in an indirect way. If you use mail on your computer, you should switch to online email such as Yahoo! which is way more safe. Opening mail is pretty harmless unless you open any attachment. Make sure your antivirus software is set to scan email and IM messages too. That is crucial.
Reply:yes even with out a attachment it work like a driveby thats why it's inportant to have e-mail security if you think you have been hit Here is a list of online virus scans Safety.Live.com (That one is Microsoft's) Symantec.com Housecall.TrendMicro.com Comodo.com...Comodo.com offers free manual disinfection and a free security suite from the makers of Comodo Firewall Pro...Avira.com now offers free antivirus and antispyware...besure to turn off onboard antivirus before starting online scanner
Reply:Interesting Question. I found it even more interesting that you received answers saying yes and no. I believe the answer is yes, you can get hacked via email and you are probably safe in this situation.
Reply:who do you think wanna to hack your computer?? ok maybe some 10 years old boy from china





no you can't be hacked via email, you dont need to worry about that !-)
Reply:No but if you send a encrypted email it can be edited by someone or read.
Reply:yes u can its a thing called a keylogger dont ever copy the random letters into something
Reply:Your worrying for nothing.