Can somebody spy on what l am doing by me opening an e-mail link?

[Cloud9]

A friend of mine said that he can spy on other peoples' computer by sending somebody a link through their e-mail which tricks us thinking it is only an innocent link (such as Facebook or Twitter), but really, it is them installing a virus into it which then they are able to watch what l am doing when l turn on my laptop. ls this true? He just sent me a link and l am wary about opening it. lt's from Spyontech.

[Patters]

In theory, it is entirely possible.

There is a thing called a "drive-by download", which is when you get a virus simply by visiting a website. It takes advantage of unpatched security holes in your web browser or browser plug-ins, such as Java, Flash or Adobe Reader.

It's also possible to craft a malicious link which looks like it goes to one place but actually goes to another.

Also, it goes without saying that someone who sends you a link can usually find out when you have clicked on the link, provided the link goes to something they operate.

There are also tricks which can be played on web browsers, which could potentially allow someone sending you a link to find out what websites you've been to, just by visiting their site. A lot of these tricks may no longer work if your browser is up-to-date, but there may be new ones that are still possible.

All this having been said, your friend might just be messing with you and pretending they are doing this when really they are not. I don't know what your friend is like, so I can't really make a guess about whether they are likely to be doing it for real or not.

[Wide Glide]

Hello HIGHsociety,

Yes that can be done and is done all the time, But mostly from Botnets
http://www.microsoft.com/security/sir/st...netsection

The majority of computers get infected from visiting a specially crafted webpage that exploits one or multiple software vulnerabilities. It could be by "clicking a link within an email" or simply browsing the net, and it happens silently without any user interaction whatsoever. Vulnerabilities are flaws that exist in various programs and that allow someone to make that piece of software do something it’s not supposed to do such as downloading and running malware. Vulnerabilities exist because software is written by humans who make mistakes or simply are too lazy to put safeguards in their code.
http://blog.malwarebytes.org/intelligenc...ht-future/

Further Information
What Is A Backdoor Trojan?
http://www.geekstogo.com/2007/10/03/what...oor-trojan
Danger: Remote Access Trojans
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/securit...usrat.mspx
Rootkits: The Obscure Hacker Attack http://www.microsoft.com/technet/communi...t1005.mspx
From server hack to client side ransomware
http://blog.malwarebytes.org/intelligenc...ansomware/
Citadel: a cyber-criminal’s ultimate weapon?
http://blog.malwarebytes.org/intelligenc...te-weapon/

NOTE: Please send me the link as requested so it can be checked. DO NOT post it here just in case it is malicious in nature

NOTE: The Author of " Spyontech" really has NO clue what Malware is about. One word covers what it is about=MONEY. FBI or Reventon Ransomware netted over 3.5 million dollars last Year and this is only 1 out of 100's