See how hackers use your computer to spread malware to your friends through your email.
It starts with software hackers getting their malware into your computer by sending emails asking you to open an attachment.
Naturally, something in the email is enticing, and you don’t think twice about it. So you open the email or click a link, and the frenzy begins.
Hackers use malicious websites and links in emails to get their malware into your computer.
Once you open an email attachment with malware or click a link to a malicious website, the software hack automatically installs malware on your computer. Then it uses your email app to send copies of itself to everyone in your email list.
When your contacts see the same request with an enticing reason to view the attachment, they freely open it, thinking it’s from a trusted friend — you.
That continues to spread among all contacts. You don’t even know it’s happening unless a friend asks if you indeed sent that email.
Be cautious of emails that appear to be from a trusted friend, asking you to follow a link or open an attachment. Otherwise, you will be another in the process that spreads the mayhem.
Use due diligence when reviewing your incoming emails.
I once received similar emails from two friends at about the same time. Both emails had a link and mentioned that I “should look at this interesting site.”
However, it didn’t say why I should look at it.
It was immediately apparent that both my friends had malware that spread by looking as if it came from someone I knew and could be trusted.
Instead of clicking the link, which I knew was asking for trouble, I just deleted the emails. These types of emails can contain a link to a site that plants a virus or other malware on your computer. That’s why I won’t ever follow a link from an email.
Getting two similar emails from two people at the same time was also a clue that my friends did not write those emails. The malware was spreading in real time!
Even if I had gotten just one, I still would not have clicked the link. I’ll tell you why. If it were a true message from a friend, they would have mentioned why I should click the link more specifically.
If a friend sends me an email without including a meaningful note in the subject field, I won't open it. They should know better. The fact remains, I won’t open it for my own safety. It might have been auto-generated by malware.
Teach this to your friends. Spread the knowledge for their safety and yours. They need to understand how to use proper computer etiquette.
I once notified a friend she had a virus, and she didn’t understand how I knew. So she ignored my warning until she started getting complaints from 200 of her contacts that she sent them a virus.
Computer malware can copy itself and spread to other computers by the following method:
Your friends make it easy for malware to spread by not hiding email addresses in the BCC (blind copy) field when they send messages to multiple people.
If any recipients have a similar malware, everyone else gets it because it captures the additional email addresses. Then, anyone who is not computer savvy will click the link and continue spreading it because they think they received the email from a trusted friend.
That explains how I got two of those emails simultaneously. It happens quickly. You have ten friends, and they each have ten friends. That is already 100 copies of the malware.
It just keeps duplicating itself that way. They each have ten friends, and now there are 1000 copies.
By the 4th generation, there will be 10,000 copies! And by the 5th generation…100,000.
You can see that a million people will have the same malware after six repeated generations of friends opening the email attachment.
That means you are responsible for millions of cyberattacks if you are one of the people in that chain.
Was this meaningful to you? Tap
Some malware may be benign, but they have a purpose. Attackers use us to spread their malware in search of something specific to carry out their task.
Remember what I explained about a million copies existing in just six generations? Eventually, a copy of it will reach its desired destination, possibly finding a computer in the Pentagon or the U.S. Defense Department and sending back all the data on those computers to the host.
In May 2011, defense contractor Lockheed Martin was hit by a cyber-attack made possible by malware that an employee carelessly allowed into their system.1
It requires a human to allow a virus to become active. Unfortunately, many people are fooled by emails that ask them to click a link that downloads malware and activates a virus. They need to learn to do their due diligence with requests to click a link.
There are ways to investigate the actual source of the email from its header info. However, the sender’s address is useless because it can be forged. Besides, the sender might be one of many spreading copies of it to all their contacts.
This carelessness can lead to cyber warfare.2 Here are two examples:
It has recently been discovered that the Chinese have been including malware in the computer chips we import. Malware or viruses in chips used in military applications could interfere with a weapon’s intended purpose.3
So far, these viruses have been stopped in their tracks before doing any damage. However, many of them had already infiltrated government computers to find vital information that hackers needed to get their hands on.
On the other hand, they may have been paid to do it for someone who wants the data for something more serious.
The result of cyber-attacks with the following three tasks can be catastrophic:
When one thinks an email is from a trusted friend, it is easy to believe it’s for real. That’s why it’s so important to pay close attention to detail. If the subject is strange, or there are other addresses in the “To Field,” think twice before opening an attachment.
Remember these crucial steps:
