Can a hacker hack into a PC with files?

Question

Hi,

Recently a friend and I believe we have been hacked. We both recieved files from an ex-friend, an image file, my friend told me that a hacker can hack a computer with an encrypted file, is this true? Can a hacker hack a computer or track a IP with an encrypted file? I thought it was only if you went to one of their websites and they stole your cookies.

If anyone has an advice, I'd like to hear it. Since the incident, I have reformatted my PC but I still fear the it is still vunerable.

Good day,
Alpha Middle Omega

Hi,

Recently a friend and I believe we have been hacked. We both recieved files from an ex-friend, an image file, my friend told me that a hacker can hack a computer with an encrypted file, is this true? Can a hacker hack a computer or track a IP with an encrypted file? I thought it was only if you went to one of their websites and they stole your cookies.

If anyone has an advice, I'd like to hear it. Since the incident, I have reformatted my PC but I still fear the it is still vunerable.

Good day,
Alpha Middle Omega

PS. To answer TJ, the file was a large jpeg, size was about 1.56MBs with high details. It was altered with photoshop, it had sucker tag on.

Answer 1

Yes, they can. A trojan can be inserted in dozens of file types including image files (jpegs), music files, and even Word documents. It's actually pretty easy and the code is very small. The idea that jpegs are too small to hide code is simply not true.

http://www.wholesecurity.com/threat/about_trojans.html

What it will do (in most cases is open a "back door" to your PC allowing the hacker access to your computer. At this point the hacker can download (without your knowledge) more elaborate programs, like keyloggers that steal passwords. They can also turn your computer into a "zombie". This is an infected computer that is used by the hacker to distribute malware or spam to other computers. Most of the time the owner of a zombie computer has no idea that his/her computer is being used in this way.
Yes, you are potentially still vulnerable. I say potentially because I have no idea what your security setup is. These days a firewall and antivirus are simply not enough. There is a lot of malware that can slip under the radar of these programs, particularly "zero day attacks", attacks that occur before the security software companies identify the attack and release the appropriate update.
If you don't have a good antispyware program, you should get one. Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware, and Winpatrol are all good and trusted freeware programs. However the best defense against attack in you. More effective then any security software are intelligent surfing and email practices: Don't surf risky sites (McAffee's Site Advisor can help identify unsafe sites, as well as the new features in IE7), don't open email attachments unless they are from someone you know and you are expecting the attachment. Never clink a link in an email. Open your browser and type the address in manually. Never give personal information away on the internet, and never download anything unless you know the source to be a trusted one.
There's a lot more you can learn about keeping your computer safe. A few good websites to check out are:
http://www.malwarehelp.org/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1880244,00.asp
http://www.spywareinfo.com/
If we all used best practices in computing the criminals and script kiddies would have a lot fewer potential victims and the internet would be a much safer place.
Take care and safe surfing

Answer 2

Image files aren't necessarily encrypted, just compressed (encoded to make them smaller but still represent the same image visually).

If you execute (run) a file, you pretty much allow it to do anything it wants. This is, effectively, running a program. People used to get in trouble loading screensavers, which have different extensions (the three letter thing at the end, like .exe or .scr) but really were programs.

Something like a plain .jpg file (JPEG graphic image file) won't "infect" you - there's no place for code to be in it. Without knowing a lot of details, it's hard to say what you got and/or if it would have installed a virus. There are more ways than just visiting a website to get infected. That said, you have to give us some details on at least the name of the file in order to make a more knowledgeable evaluation.

Answer 3

Hacking works in alot of ways... Cookie poisoning is just one of many tactics they use.

Yes, if she sent a file that was binded with a trojan then he could have been hacked.

What would happen is, he would have been tricked into thinking his picture from his girl firend was just a picture and nothing else. But the truth is, when he executed it the trojan that was binded to it executed aswell. This program installed it's self on his PC hiddenly without him knowing. After the program was installed it sent his IP address to the hacker via email. Which then the hacker connected to the trojan that allowed him to control the PC..

Answer 4

LOL Yahoo solutions for all of your hacking tutorials! in short, certain they could use Messenger to attain recommendations which will then help them in hacking your pc. Why that that they had extremely hardship though is yet another question.

Answer 5

yeah sure u can be hacked in that fashion by ur ex-friend. But ...since u've reformatted ur PC,u need not worry and ur system is not vulnerable to ur friend after that . Cheer up and surf ur files......