Is my computer hacked ? Probably not, but it does not harm to make sure.
In this article we cover
How to check – symptoms to look for if you think your computer has been hacked into.
Hacked computer fix – what can be done if your computer has been hacked.
What is the purpose of hacking a computer
Is my computer hacked ? how to check
Due to the very nature of the person hacking into a computer there are literally thousands of things that could be done, some of them not so malicious such as changing wall paper or language options or something much more malicious such as trashing your computers operating system or copying private files, gathering account passwords and the like.
But how can we tell? It requires little bit of detective work on your behalf, to begin with if you begin to notice changes on your computer, this could include wall paper suddenly changes, or you cannot access your computer maybe an email account or you see file modification dates have changed when you have not opened the file then this could be a warning that your computers security has been compromised.
The next step is to check system logs using event viewer, this can be accessed by – Right Clicking on My Computer – Select Manage – Computer Management – Event Viewer & Security.
Now you’ll be able to see login information to see which users have logged on to your computer and when, you can even click on each event for more information.
User accounts – extra or unknown user accounts should always be investigated, especially if they have elevated rights such as being added to the administrators group, this can be checked from computer management you’ll be able to see Local users and groups and then users – now you’ll be able to see every user account on your computer – and delete or disable any bogus or hacker accounts.
Another really good way to check is from the admin console on your router – pretty much all routers have logs of various events which give all kinds of information, but in particular you’ll be able to see if persistent attempts are made to access the router.
Is my computer hacked – What can I do?
There are two types of damage limitation we need to employ here online and offline.
Online involves fixing the security loophole and then making your computer as secure as possible.
In addition to these account passwords, including windows login, email accounts, all need to have passwords changed, and not just to any word that can easily be cracked, an easy way to create a secure password that you can remember would be to take a simply word and substitute some of the characters for example if we used the word football this would be an easy word to crack so if we change it to Footb4ll its still easy to remember, but is not actually a real word, all passwords should consist of at least one upper case, one lower case and one numerical character, and a minimum of 8 characters in total.
Offline security means banking passwords – credit card accounts – any external account you manage online, if your unsure about this contact your bank or other confidential organisations as soon as possible, explain to them what has happened, they will have procedures in place to help you which if implemented in time will save you lots of money and grief if any of these accounts have been compromised.
The purpose of hacking can be a number or reasons it could simply be the challenge of being able to break into someone else’s property, being able to inflict as much damage as possible to someone else’s property with little or no chance of being caught, hacking into some ones computer purely for financial gain, or breaking into some ones computer to obtain specific information, this is usually done by someone who knows the owner of the computer.
Make sure your computer is secure and you’ll never be wondering is my computer hacked
Read our guides covering many aspects of computer security with help and tips on how to implement better computer security
computer adviser is my computer hacked article
Today I went to start to shut down my computer and I let go of the mouse to see if it moves because when I was watching something on my computer my mouse was moving and so then when I let go I was still on Start and my mouse then went to magnifier and clicked on it I didn’t do anything….
Is a a hacker??? if it is then I already put netstat -a in my command prompt and it did say on forgien location in words like i think it said…
I am not sure but it said a lot of User-PC090 for example and one was like this 74.678.398.789.http for another example also *:* finally something with words like for example jkdlfkls.net or something
That sounds like someone is connected to your computer
, check your user accounts and delete any odd ones also change passwords on the ones you use.
hi today i was randomly on facebook suddenly warning came that malicious has been detected then some thing came again from window 7 security program like your filies leaked to distant host then nothng was opening their were like 101 threads they were weird like childpornproxyserver weird w32/bucter etc so what was it is my laptop being hacked are my private things leaked plz tell me thank you
Dont think your computer is hacked, sounds like a virus is what you have, try running MS security essentials, also would not harm to disable your FB addins as well.
is my computer hacked
My son set his computer up to act as a server for some online game. It’s shut down now but someone has been trying to use my credit card. The bank prevented it and cancelled the card. Should I be concerned that whoever this was can still access my information?
As long as the credit card has been changed the old details will be worthless to anyone trying to use them.
The issue is how could anyone have intercepted the credit card transaction in the first place, it either means someone has managed to hack onto the server and placed some type of keylogger which could still be active, or a website used to make a card payment is fraudulant.
i was chatting with a person on omegle.. he sent me a link which i pasted on my browser and it opened up to be a picture. the next message he sends me is that he is a hacker belonging to ‘annonymous’ and has hacked my computer through the link that he sent.. is it possible for him to do it? am i hacked?.. my laptop seems normal… what can i do to find out?
If the link opened any malware and this has run on your computer then yes this is possible, download and run something like malwarebytes or microsoft security essentials to check and remove any malware, also check all the user accounts on your computer, any odd ones disable them, and change passwords on any you do use.
For anyone to hack your computer they need a way in this can only be accomplished by using an account, many malware applications will create an account or run as the administrator account, hope this helps.
when im on one chatting site..i press monkey and it shows me like nononoxD so am i hacked or what?
Could be your Internet browser is hijacked, checkout our article on this
Internet explorer hijacked
Hey, Myself And My Girl Friends Facebook Keep On Being Hacked And Abusive And Personal Messages Keep On Being Left On Our Walls. I Also Run A Large Company With Contact Details Of Many Bands And Their Members On My Laptop But I Am Also Worried That I Keep Getting Abusive Calls Off An Unknown Number And Was Wondering Whether, because My Phone Is Connected To The Internet For Facebook And Emails Weather They Could Gather Personal Information? We’ve Both Recently Changed Numbers And Both Have New COmputers But It Still Keeps On Happening. If This Is Possible It Could Be Someone Hacking Is There A Hotline For These Sort’s Of Things? Cheers
Sounds like someone has your account details change all passwords, pc, facebook etc, and make sure all facebook addins are disabled, but at the end of the day this sounds as though it could be detrimental to your business, its probably worth your hiring your local IT specialist to find out how this is happening and resolve it once and for all.
Mike
Today, I was on the computer looking up some videos online. And this one website had a video I wanted to watch, so I clicked On it… But then something poped up, it said something like “current location tracking”. I didn’t know what that meant, but not taking chances I restarted my computer. It was doing fine before. But just like an hour ago I dropped my laptop. Now just about 20 minutes ago, I tried turning my laptop on, and right away, my screen shows all these numbers and letters. I didn’t get a chance to read it, cause just a few seconds after all these things pop up, it starts making weird, loud, beeping noises. I don’t know what to do. I took out my battery and am letting it sit right now. Should I do anything further? I’m not sure if it is a hack, or something else. Any advice?
My computer has a completely different desktop all the sudden and it is red with a clock on the right side and I want the hacker to know U Lose loser get a life I bought a new laptop
Hi, I would like to know how I can know if my Mac is hacked- my credit card details (2!) were hacked and some money was taken from my account and I don’t know if the website is hacked- I used both cards in only one site for shopping- not at the same time or maybe my Mac could be hacked?
thanks for your reply,
Zsuzsi
When i am out of town using my laptop on the internet my wife seems to know exactly what i have browsed even before i get back home. Is it possible for her to have access to my computer to see the links that i have visited? How does she know specific information within a few hours of particular sites and such?
i used my laptop saturday morning and using in the evening its telling me someone has used my pc to deliver junk mail i would like help fing who that person is i cant get my contacts i cant read my messages can some help i need to get my information plz.