For many of us, checking our email is the first thing we do when we wake up. It’s almost undeniable that emails are essential to our existence in this day and age. We simply can’t live without them, not only because they’re useful, but also because we’ve become too accustomed to them.

But this kind of dependency comes with its own risks. Emails are a major breeding ground for viruses and other types of malware. Hackers have a strong preference for using emails as a medium to hack computers, and history is full of examples of its effectiveness. Like in 2000, when the ILOVEYOU virus repeatedly overwrote system and personal files after penetrating someone’s computer when they opened an innocent-looking email, costing the world about $15 million in damages.

Similarly, another malicious virus, Storm Worm, gained a lot of attention in 2006 with the topic '230 dead in storm in Europe'. This particular virus was a Trojan horse that infected computers and sometimes turned them into zombies or bots to continue spreading the virus and send a huge amount of spam mails to other unsuspecting computers. The exact cost of the damage caused by this malware has yet to be determined.

So the answer to the question is pretty clear. Yes, your computer can get infected with a virus via email.