I’ve been hacked! What should I do?
Overview
Most of your devices are protected with passwords, secret
questions and some form of physical security. However, thousands of people are
hacked everyday. Chances are you or someone you know has been hacked at one point
or another. No matter how diligent you are about security, you may eventually
become a target. In this article you will learn how to tell if your device may
have been hacked and how to respond. The faster your able to detect the signs
and respond accordingly, the better you can minimize the damage.
Signs that you have been hacked
Hackers attempt to gather information from your computer or
device without your knowledge. Therefore, it can be hard to determine if you are
being hacked without knowing what to look for. Hackers often trigger certain
events or leave indicators along the way that can help you detect the hack and take
action right away. Use the following list of indicators as a guide:
·
Your browser homepage has been changed to
another site
·
Applications on your device are crashing or
restarting
·
You have new applications appearing on your
device
·
The Anti virus program on your device alerts that
it has been disabled
·
Programs or popups start asking for your
username/password
·
Your password no longer works when you try to
log into your device
·
Friends ask why you are sending them SPAM
·
Your device powers down by itself
How to respond
If you believe the device your using has been compromised or
hacked, take action right away. If the device belongs to your employer, notify your
management or the IT department. Trying to resolve the issue yourself can sometimes
lead to more harm than good. In a business environment it is important to
determine what information was compromised and, in some cases, evidence on the
device may be gathered for legal action. If for any reason you’re not able to quickly
get the assistance that you need, unplug the device from the network but leave
the device running. In some cases, hackers will damage operating system files, disabling
the device from being able to boot up again.
If you are working on your own personal device, here are a
few steps that you can take:
·
Disable the wireless connection on the device
and unplug it from the network
·
Change your passwords right away. If possible,
change your passwords from another computer in case the hacker is recording
keystrokes on the infected device.
·
Make sure the Anti Virus software on your device
is running. If any infected files have been detected, try using the Anti Virus
software to clean them.
·
Install a program like Malwarebytes and scan the
complete system for malware. You might need to download the program from
another computer and install it with a thumb drive or CD.
·
Restore the device from a backup. DATA LOSS!
This option will likely result in some data loss.
·
Restore the device with the factory recovery
image. DATA LOSS! This option will result in data loss.
Moving forward
After you have regained control of your device it is
important to keep an eye on your social media, instant messaging, email, banking
accounts, etc. If the hacker was able to extract information from your device,
they will likely try to use it relatively fast.
Take this opportunity to look over your backup process or
create a process if you were not backing up your information. Backups don’t need
to be complicated and can be done with an inexpensive external hard drive,
thumb drive, CDs, etc. Microsoft operating system have a backup and restore
application built in and Apple computers use a backup and restore system called
Time Machine. Apple and Droid phones and tablets can be backed up to the cloud
or a workstation/laptop.
Getting assistance
If you need help recovering your device or protecting it
from future issues, please contact us at https://jbtechconsulting.com
