# Hacked simply by opening an email?



## questionasker11 (Oct 4, 2011)

Ive read somehwere that its possible to get hacked simply by opening a message using hotmail.com. despite not having opened/downloaded or even loaded pictures. Is this true?

If so, what if I have several antivirus programs running as im opening/checking my mail - would that make a difference?


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## Roardawg (Apr 11, 2011)

By simply opening an email? Highly doubtful, RAT tools, viruses and other infections have to be executed.(by execution I mean you have to allow something to happen, ie: opening pictures, downloading something, or clicking a link.) By simply viewing your email, you are just viewing the context and not taking any further action. Once you take an action or execute something then you are allowing something to change/get inside.


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## Dervisher (May 8, 2011)

I highly doubt that's possible, since you are just receiving text and images essentially. What's linked to those anchors and text can lead to a virus though, if you click one of them.

The scariest thing i've run into was a rootkit on a harmless looking, informative website. I didn't download anything, I was simply browsing about and later on found out it was one of the websites I was on (I didn't even click on an anchor or anything there either, i simply connected to it, left, and got the rootkit that way.)

It was completely silent too. It went through my comodo firewall, my avast! antivirus, and through Spybot S&D without a single alarm bell going off.

I knew i had a virus the moment my computer blue screened, and it was indeed a rootkit.


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