Did I Get Hacked?
DW got an email from a friend she knew and it stated to effect that attached is a document that you asked for. DW scratched her head and hit open on the attachment. nothing was there. She emailed t...
Forum Discussion
As a rule, never open an email attachment that you are not specifically expecting from a trusted source. This is how some of the biggest hacks, including the Target breach apparently happened. An employee of a Target contractor opened an email attachment which contained a keylogger rootkit. The malware was subsequently able to capture the contractor's Target login credentials, which allowed hackers a doorway into their corporate servers.
AV would not necessarily stop it as there are so many variants of zero-day malware, and the user essentially gave permission to install it. As an aside, this would likely not have happened if using a non-admin account without install privileges on a PC.
The two most common malicious malware contained in email attachments are keyloggers and ransomware. Both extremely dangerous. With new cryptoware now using a delay tactic before it actually encrypts files and demands a ransom. Both on PC and Macs.
I would do as suggested, and backup all key files. And do not use the computer until it has been thoroughly cleaned by multiple AV applications. Though note that security experts state they would not use any system which has been infected by "known" malware, as they cannot trust malware has been completely removed. Especially, where rootkits are involved.
Best practices would be to thoroughly wipe the drive and reinstall from a clean system image.
AV would not necessarily stop it as there are so many variants of zero-day malware, and the user essentially gave permission to install it. As an aside, this would likely not have happened if using a non-admin account without install privileges on a PC.
The two most common malicious malware contained in email attachments are keyloggers and ransomware. Both extremely dangerous. With new cryptoware now using a delay tactic before it actually encrypts files and demands a ransom. Both on PC and Macs.
I would do as suggested, and backup all key files. And do not use the computer until it has been thoroughly cleaned by multiple AV applications. Though note that security experts state they would not use any system which has been infected by "known" malware, as they cannot trust malware has been completely removed. Especially, where rootkits are involved.
Best practices would be to thoroughly wipe the drive and reinstall from a clean system image.
