What to do if Your Computer is Hacked?

Let’s say your mouse is making selections and clicking on things on its own. It behaves reasonably, but without your control. Therefore, you’ll think your computer is hacked, right? It probably is. So, here’s what to do.

Confirm that You’re Hacked

If any anomalies happen, don’t panic: Confirm that your computer is suffering from an attack. Try to look at the situations. If any of these matches your conditions, your device is possibly hacked, especially if accompanied by other symptoms.

• Your computer is apparently controlled by someone else (e.g., unusual webcam behavior)
• Your files or settings changed without your permission (e.g., important files are missing)
• There are unknown redirects
• Your computer becomes too slow and overheats unreasonably
• Your passwords don’t work
• You have online activities or records that aren’t made by you (e.g., unusual login records)
• There are antivirus warnings
• Random pop-ups are present (e.g., pop-up windows that seem too good to be true)
• Startup problems or strange glitches appear

Section Credit: (Carson, 2021)¹.
URL: https://www.centralgalaxy.com/recognize-computer-hack/

What to Do If Your Computer is Hacked

Power Off Your Device

Firstly, you have to disconnect from the Internet. However, doing so through the operating system can let hackers pretend that it’s offline, even though it is still online. Or, they can put your gadget back online without warning.

Secondly, you have to stop the damage. Therefore, powering off the device is a suitable action. That can also ensure the first objective is done so that the computer cannot spread the malware to other gadgets.

Thus, once you’ve noticed a hack, you should shut down your computer as quickly as possible. Disconnect it from the power cord and any charging ports. If your computer can run on battery power, press and hold the power button until the device shuts off, and remove the battery if possible. This action ensures that no electricity is flowing through the components, and the attack is paused. Although you’ve heard that a forced shutdown is bad, this is one of the conditions when doing so is beneficial.

You can also shut down the router to avoid any Internet connection in that place. However, this action can cause inconvenience in the following steps, so it’s your choice to do it or not.

Reset Your Passwords At Once

If your computer is hacked, that also means that your accounts are compromised or at risk. So, after you’ve turned off your computer and disconnected it from all power sources possible, it’s time to use another device and change all your passwords immediately.

Start from crucial accounts like your bank account and password manager, and accounts that you usually log in to (e.g., your Google account). Then, go for less important accounts, such as subscription services for news websites. You should use a password generator to make up random passwords.

Of course, you shouldn’t use a password manager for your password manager: It creates a single point of failure.

If you cannot log in to your accounts, don’t fear: If your account is hacked, attackers likely change the password to lock you out before damaging anything. Use the “Forgot Password” option to try to get your account back.

In any case, once you’re in, you should change the answers to security questions to prevent the hackers from locking you out again. Treat these as passwords and use random generators to make some up. If there’s none, you should skip this step. Remember to turn on two-step verification whenever available. Moreover, to further prevent hackers from getting into your account again, verify your recovery email and phone number and change them back if they’re modified.

If you cannot recover your account or if significant damage is already done, delete or abandon your account and create a new one.

Notify Your Contacts, Friends, Family Members, and Co-workers

Do you want to repair the hack secretly? That’s a dangerous act to do. If so, while you’re safe from the threat, your contacts might fall into phishing traps from your accounts and infect themselves with malware!

Therefore, after resetting all of your passwords, quickly notify all of your contacts, including your friends, family members, and co-workers. The message should mention that your computer is hacked, and tell them not to click on any links or open any attachments from your email address. If you decided to create a new email address and/or use a new phone number, tell them to contact you with the new set of contact information.

Moreover, you can tell them about additional cybersecurity tips but check with multiple recent sources on the Internet.

Run An Antivirus Scan

Note: This step can be skipped if you want to erase your computer directly or use a new hard drive. However, this is recommended because it removes as much malware as possible and might prevent or minimize damage to the eraser that will be used later.

After you’ve reset your passwords, it’s time to take out a hard drive or use a bootable antivirus tool (the latter is better since it cannot affect other computer(s)).

Assuming that you use a bootable antivirus tool. In that case, you need to have another healthy computer and a removable drive. First, read reviews about the best bootable antivirus tool. There’s plenty out there, and it’s advisable to read multiple third-party ones.

When you found the best bootable antivirus tool, go ahead and install that on your removable storage device. But, you mustn’t click on the download link on the review. Instead, type the official website manually in the address bar, and find the download page. If you can’t, a Google search using the site: parameter will find out.

Then, transfer that removable drive to the infected computer, but make sure you change the boot order to make it boot from the external drive. If you boot from the operating system again, you risk further damage. Then, follow the onscreen instructions to continue.

Erase Your Hard Drive

After you’ve run an antivirus scan, you’ve hopefully removed some or all malware. However, there are uncertainties, and a lot of malware is designed to dodge or damage the antivirus. Therefore, your best bet is to erase your hard drive with a reputable app. Again, check the reviews!

Next, you should install a bootable erasing utility. You must get it on its official website, or it might contain malware. Then, transfer the file to an external drive and insert it into your computer! Now, run that app to thoroughly wipe the primary hard drive!

If security options are present, make sure to overwrite the entire drive for as many times as possible to prevent any traces from leaving on the drive.

You should also consider the possibility that the erasing utility is damaged by the malware so that the malicious program cannot be erased. Therefore, it’s better to start with a new or empty hard drive if you can replace it cheaply.

Reinstall the Operating System

After erasing your hard drive or inserting a new one, you should reinstall your operating system. Only install an operating through official and trusted sites. For instance, if you want to install Windows, your installation file should be at microsoft.com. Search site:microsoft.com install windows 10 to find out.

If you don’t obtain them through official sites, it’s a pirated version, and it probably contains malware. A normal site would only give the link to the download page, not the file itself.

Install Updates and Antivirus

After installing your OS, the next step you should do is to make sure your system is up-to-date and install an antivirus. If you’re using Windows, you have a built-in antivirus app. However, no matter which OS you use, feel free to get third-party antivirus apps if you’re interested. Again, please read the reviews to choose the best one, and only install them through trusted media!

Also, you should make sure that your operating system is up-to-date. If any updates are not done, go ahead and install that before doing anything else.

Testing, Testing, Testing

Here is the exciting part: After reinstalling your operating system, do not restore your backups or install any third-party apps other than the antivirus yet. You need to test every single thing on your computer before proceeding. Use the File Explorer to view as many files as possible. If there are any anomalies, an authoritative website will hopefully find out if it’s malware.

Run a lot of scans with your antivirus. Show hidden files but don’t edit them. Use the task manager to find abnormal processes. Search for abnormalities in your system. Continue for a few days until you’re confident that the malware gets wiped away.

If you see any signs of malware in your clean system, your best choice is to buy a new device and router. In that case, other than the fact that your computer is hacked, some malware exists on the firmware level or damaged the eraser so well that it survives the complete wipe.

Restore Your Backup

Finally, if all goes well, you should restore your backup. However, it might not be malware-free. If there is no important files on this computer or if the malware reoccurs on the last step, feel free to get rid of that data and start over. However, if important files were present on your hard drive, grab your backup and restore it.

Ideally, erasing your backup drive is your best bet. But you need that data, right? So, the next best solution is to scan it with multiple antivirus software, and hopefully, all malware can be found and cleared (although this might not be the case).

Therefore, do that on your backup! If any malware is found on any great antivirus software you’ve heard of, it isn’t a safe backup and can reinfect your computer with malware. If you have multiple backups, you can find an older backup. Then, restore the newest safe backup. Your last resort is to find a cloud backup. If you’re extremely lucky and haven’t synced files on your computer, you will be able to get the data back. Remember to scan that with multiple antivirus programs!

If no clean backups are available or if malware is reinstalled after introducing the backup, you have no choice but to start over completely.

Conclusion

So, here’s a guide on what to do if your computer is hacked. With those tips, you’ve hopefully disinfected your computer. However, it’s best to consult medical advice for your device as they are more personalized, and can help you remove malware (and recover your data) more quickly. For instance, they may be able to decide whether you can to restore from your backup or not.

No matter what, remember to apply these cybersecurity tips, and you’re one level safer from attackers!

References and Credits

1. Carson. (n.d.). How to Recognize A Computer Hack? 9 Signs To Be Aware Of. – Central Galaxy. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.centralgalaxy.com/recognize-computer-hack/
2. (2020, September 21). I’ve Been Hacked! Now What? Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.lifewire.com/ive-been-hacked-now-what-2487230
3. (2019, June 13). What to Do If Your Computer Is Hacked | CactusVPN. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://www.cactusvpn.com/beginners-guide-online-security/what-to-do-if-your-computer-is-hacked/
4. (2020, March 6). How to Fix a Hacked Computer | Clario. Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://clario.co/blog/what-to-do-if-computer-is-hacked/
5. Leo A. Notenboom. (n.d.). My Email Is Hacked, How Do I Fix It? – 7 Things You Need to do NOW! – Ask Leo! Retrieved March 20, 2021, from https://askleo.com/email-hacked/