6 SIGNS YOUR PC HAS BEEN HACKED

Hacking incidents are growing significantly around the world. These incidents are not limited to large corporations, government agencies, companies and other organizations. In today’s world, any system is vulnerable to hacking attacks. The world has seen it often. Experts do believe that the third world war might be fought on the Internet rather than on the borders or battle fields. Cybercriminals are a smart lot that are always on the look-out for user information and find ways to reach your system without your permission. Interestingly, in most scenarios users have no clue whether there system has been hacked. Your job is not done by simply keeping your systems foolproof with all the latest security software and appliances. Thieves do not need to keys to barge into any house. So is the case with cybercriminals and hackers. They have their tricks to steal your information and use against you. If your system is running smoothly, it does not necessarily mean that it is sound and impenetrable or has not been hacked. It may have been. It is better to pay attention to some of the points and find whether or not your PC is hacked.

1. Your PC has become slow

It is one of the simplest things to identify whether your PC has been taken hostage. Generally the systems become slow whenever there is a hacking attack on your computer. If your system has all of a sudden gone into slow mode, it is high time that you try to find out whether the information on your system is getting stolen. Above all try to see if your PC is slower than the normal. The difference is very well perceived from the time it takes to start and shut down. But this is not always the reason for a PC to slowdown. Viruses and malware also slows the system. You need to check whether your antivirus is working properly.

2. Are Pop-ups disturbing often

Users often complain that their system has started showing too many popup windows. It is not a positive sign. It might mean that your system has been getting a lot of attacks from cybercriminals and hackers. They have installed malicious code on your system which is giving birth to a host of unwanted popups. It might not be direct attack on your system. It may have come through a application which you recently installed. Check the reputation of that application, because unverified applications often come loaded with viruses and malicious code.

3. Too many toolbars on your browser

The Internet is the biggest source of viruses and hacking attacks. Your gateway to the internet is your web-browser. When you see a host of toolbars weighing your browser, you should sense something wrong with them. These toolbars might be transmitting your information to the hackers from your system. The best way to identify such toolbars is that you should differentiate between the toolbars which you installed and the toolbars which automatically sat on your browser. It is a clear sign that your system is hacked. Remove all of them before they do further damage.

4. Warnings related to the viruses

Taking a virus warning lightly might be a costly affair. You should immediately go on an action mode when your PC begins to show the virus warnings. Viruses are not simply infections in your computer. But they are stealthily sending your system data to third party systems without you knowing. You must clean your system and update your anti-virus software to get rid of viruses and their warnings by your system.

5. Somebody changed your passwords without your knowledge

Hackers are very smart. They gather your information from social networks and try to understand your psyche so that they can know what kind of passwords you can use. Never leave hints on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, etc about your passwords. You should immediately suspect when your password has got changed without you knowing. This happens generally through the password information stored on your web-browser. Never save your password information in your browser.

6. Is the mouse cursor moving on its own

Experts call it a complete hijack of your PC. This is the state when your system is being controlled remotely by somebody sitting elsewhere. If your mouse cursor is going sideways and is not in your control, your system has been thoroughly hijacked. They can steal whatever information you have stored on your system. Plus they can use your IP address to send emails on your behalf. It is an alarming situation. In such case, you are advised to disconnect your system from the internet.