Many times there is a doubt about whether you can be hacked for opening an email or an SMS , although the answer to this question may be ambiguous, it is worth analyzing why or why a cybercriminal would not be able to carry out the attack against you.
Can you be hacked for opening an email or SMS?
- First of all, we must say that the only way to prevent these attacks from materializing is to be very attentive and take care of it , although we will explain how to achieve this, we are going to review whether the statement in this article is really possible or not.
- If we refer strictly to the question we posed at the beginning, the truth is that no, it is not possible that you can be hacked just for opening an email or an SMS , it does not happen as we can see in the movies and the security recommendations can be a sometimes a little exaggerated.
- In order for you to be hacked, or for a device to be infected, such as a computer or a mobile phone, it is necessary that you execute additional actions, such as downloading files, following links and in general complying with the specific action that they invite or propose in that SMS or email.
- Many times some of us could receive an email in which we were told that we should follow up on an abandoned package in our name , or an SMS indicating that you have problems with your card and you should follow a link.
- As such, the SMS or email you receive does not represent a real danger in itself , since it is the first phase of the attack and where social engineering strategies come into action to convince you to take some action.
- The infection that you may receive on your devices may occur if you execute this action , that is, if you download the file that they indicate, if you enter the website that they indicate or if you follow the link that they provide.
- Many of these attacks have the objective of phishing you , which can be the theft of credentials, theft of banking information or personal data in order to obtain benefits, even extortion if applicable.
- Another type of attack that can be the product of following the instructions in these emails or SMS is the well-known ransomware , which is the hijacking of devices until a payment is made to the criminals.
How to prevent an email or SMS from becoming a real danger
Before, we explained that receiving the SMS or email itself does not directly represent a danger. However, you must comply with some security measures that can protect you from the dangers that may occur , let’s see what they are:
- Mark as SPAM: first of all, it would be important that you can mark any message of this type as spam. Although it may be a bit complex to identify them, they all have one element in common and that is a sense of urgency.
- Avoid entering links: when you receive an SMS that tells you that you must enter a link urgently to resolve some problem, to attend to something that you must do immediately, it should set off your alarms. Until then you are safe, but it is best to report the message to avoid following the link by mistake.
- Activate the protection functions on your mobile phone and in your email: this will allow many of these messages to be automatically discarded, this way you will avoid being exposed to them and you can also help detect these suspicious senders.
Finally, remember that the use of antivirus will help you avoid any type of attack , in case you have accidentally followed the link or downloaded a malicious file, but always keeping in mind that receiving an SMS or an email does not mean that you can be the victim of an attack.
