{"id":19993,"date":"2014-05-08T23:01:59","date_gmt":"2014-05-08T15:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=19993"},"modified":"2021-08-18T16:16:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T08:16:03","slug":"pc-compromised-signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/pc-compromised-signs\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Signs Your PC Has Been Compromised"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We are all tired of our <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/diy-your-own-pc\/\" rel=\"noopener\">PC<\/a> getting <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/tools-to-protect-computer-from-infected-usb-drives\/\" rel=\"noopener\">infected<\/a> or compromised but truth is sometimes, instead of having to fix an infected PC, it is better to <strong>learn about the reason why the PC is infected in the first place<\/strong>. There are many possible reasons for that and it all goes back to our individual <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/tailor_google_ad\/\" rel=\"noopener\">browsing habits<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In this post we will look at <strong>10 signs your PC has been compromised<\/strong>, and what causes these reactions to happen. That way you can understand how <em>you<\/em> got your PC infected (yes, usually it is the user\u2019s fault) and <strong>learn to fix your browsing habits<\/strong> to avoid future infections. If you are bored with fixing a relative\u2019s computer all the time, you might want to consider sharing this post with them (you know, as a hint).<\/p>\n<div class=\"ref-block ref-block--post\" id=\"ref-post-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/change-your-passwords\/\" class=\"ref-block__link\" title=\"Read More: Golden Rule to Internet Security: Change Your Passwords\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Golden Rule to Internet Security: Change Your Passwords<\/span><\/a>\n<div class=\"ref-block__thumbnail img-thumb img-thumb--jumbo\" data-img='{ \"src\" : \"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/thumbs\/250x160\/change-your-passwords.jpg\" }'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<noscript>\n<style>.no-js #ref-block-post-14983 .ref-block__thumbnail { background-image: url(\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/thumbs\/250x160\/change-your-passwords.jpg\"); }<\/style>\n<\/noscript>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"ref-block__summary\">\n<h4 class=\"ref-title\">Golden Rule to Internet Security: Change Your Passwords<\/h4>\n<p class=\"ref-description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIn today's technology-powered world, everything from our emails, and social networking sites to our Internet banking details is...\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Read more<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>1. Your Email Account Is Sending Out Spam<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s 2014 but this still happens. If you receive messages from your friends saying that they receive spam email from you, that means either your account or your PC has already been compromised. This usually happens when you\u2019re infected with a malware that resides in your PC; it compromises your browser activity as well.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/email-spams.jpg\" alt=\"Your Email Account Is Sending Out Spam\" width=\"500\" height=\"170\"><\/figure>\n<p>If you <strong>have your password saved on your browser, the malware can easily access your email account with that info<\/strong>. That way, it can use your email to spam out links to all your contacts. There\u2019s also a chance that your account has been hacked, although this is a rarer cause.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Your Password Has been Changed<\/h2>\n<p>If you have ever received email from a website you have registered for, telling you that your account password has been changed, you may have been a victim of malware. This may be caused by items downloaded online, that <strong>wasn\u2019t scanned before it was opened<\/strong>, and it doesn\u2019t even have to be an item of questionable content. Hackers can easily use a program to <strong>bind a malware trojan<\/strong>, that is not easily detectable, onto anything, even a normal image file or an mp3.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/account-password-change.jpg\" alt=\"Your Password Has been Changed\" width=\"500\" height=\"284\"><\/figure>\n<p>Once you have downloaded and open that image or mp3, your PC will be infected immediately with that trojan. Your PC may be compromised, without you knowing. Besides all that, it is also possible that hackers can hack into your account <strong>using brute force software and a password list<\/strong> so pay attention when a system says that your password is not strong enough.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Online Stores Calling About Goods You Didn\u2019t Order<\/h2>\n<p>If you like to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/holiday-shopping-online-stores\/\" rel=\"noopener\">shop online<\/a>, you probably have your credit card credentials linked to your shopping account. The event of someone hacking into your account and using this data to buy something online these days is not impossible. Although online stores like Amazon have put in place security features to prevent such a thing from happening, the best security still comes from <strong>being mindful of your own account<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/shipments.jpg\" alt=\"Some Store Called You For Goods Shipments That You Didn't Order\" width=\"500\" height=\"301\"><\/figure>\n<p>Shopping online is easy and convenient, not only for you but also for hackers who want take advantage of <strong>shoppers who are careless with their shopping habits<\/strong>. Do all your online shopping behind a <strong>secured router connection<\/strong> (public Wi-Fi and even hotel Wi-Fi are not considered secure) to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, and <strong>check your credit card statements <\/strong>for irregular activities.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Fake Antivirus Message<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s fairly common to receive a fake antivirus message on an unprotected PC. This kind of message will <strong>alert you that your PC is already infected with a virus<\/strong> via a legitimate-looking scan result list on their software. The software will advise you to install its full version for protection but what will happen if you do is that you will be actively installing the malware itself. It is best to ignore such heart attack inducing messages.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/fake-antivirus-message.jpg\" alt=\"Fake Antivirus Message\" width=\"500\" height=\"343\"><\/figure>\n<p>Sometimes, instead of it being an antivirus message, you might also receive pop-ups that ask you to <strong>download their free software to boost your PC performance<\/strong>. It\u2019s best to ignore these as well, and if possible, including those that pop up when none of your browsers are even open.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Random Website Popups<\/h2>\n<p>So you\u2019re browsing your Facebook news feed and suddenly a random popup appears on top of your current page showing a message that you\u2019ve won a prize and you need to click on the pop-ups to claim it. Right, everyone\u2019s lucky on the Internet that way. Again, ignore these pop-ups and while you\u2019re at it, change your <strong>browser settings to not allow pop-ups while you\u2019re browsing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/random-popups.jpg\" alt=\"Random Website Popups\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\"><\/figure>\n<p>By not allowing pop-ups, you help prevent your PC from being exposed to adware invasions, thus saving you from being infected with malware too. Note that nowadays your PC can end up being infected even when you do not allow or see any of those adware popups. That is because they can now hijack your browser simply <strong>after you have visited a harmful website<\/strong>, so watch where you surf.<\/p>\n<h2>6. Your PC Gets Locked For Ransom<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Ransomware is a virus that is used to take over and hold your PC for ransom<\/strong>. If your PC is infected with a ransomware, you will receive a notice along this lines of \"Your computer has been locked due to suspicion of illegal content downloading and distribution.\" And there is nothing you can do, except pay to regain control of your PC.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/ransomware.jpg\" alt=\"Your PC Has Been Locked?\" width=\"500\" height=\"347\"><\/figure>\n<p><small>(Image Source: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/information-technology\/2013\/02\/viruses-trojans-and-worms-oh-my-the-basics-on-malware\/\">Ars Technica<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n<p>The behaviors of these ransomware may vary, some <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/2060640\/cryptolocker-creators-try-to-extort-even-more-money-from-victims-with-new-service.html\">lock all your files with encryption<\/a>, unless you pay the amount they are asking for. If you don\u2019t pay within the allotted time, they destroy the decription key. Even if you do, there is still a chance that the hacker may just walk away without releasing your PC. Prevention is better than cure in this situation.<\/p>\n<h2>7. Your Webcam Light Turns On On Its Own<\/h2>\n<p>Another form of intrusion comes from rats. A popular malware program, Remote Administration Tools (RAT) allows the hacker to <strong>take control of your PC remotely<\/strong>, usually to enable and capture what your PC webcam sees. This tool is the origin of the many webcam videos that are available in some parts of the Internet, even on YouTube.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/webcam-light-indicator.jpg\" alt=\"Your Webcam Lights Is On All Of A Sudden\" width=\"500\" height=\"303\"><\/figure>\n<p>It also contains features to scare the victim. The hacker could open a notepad, type a message and let the voice speech feature read the messages to the victim. RAT can also be used to <strong>listen to your microphone, steal your stored passwords, modify\/view\/stream your files, log your keystrokes<\/strong> and many other activities. In most cases, you could get infected from not being careful with the downloaded files you open.<\/p>\n<h2>8. Unwanted Browser Toolbars<\/h2>\n<p>Many toolbars are often included together with the installation of a certain software. In the past, you have the option to tick to install the toolbar if you ever want to. But nowadays, those options are automatically enabled the moment you run the setup.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/unwanted-toolbars.jpg\" alt=\"Unwanted Browser Toolbars\" width=\"500\" height=\"359\"><\/figure>\n<p>If you skip through the installation options, you might <strong>end up with a few unwanted browser toolbars.<\/strong> These toolbars could track your browsing habits, automatically redirect you to a different website while searching, and will ultimately slow down your PC.<\/p>\n<h2>9. PC Always Loading But Not Moving<\/h2>\n<p>Your PC acting real sluggish, always loading but never loads? There could be malware running in the background, collecting data from your PC already. The data is being sent out frequently too, consuming both your internet bandwidth and your PC performance.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/loading.jpg\" alt=\"PC Always Loading And Not Moving\" width=\"500\" height=\"215\"><\/figure>\n<p>This action can greatly reduce your PC performance if there is a lot of them running at once in the background. Some also come in a form of bitcoin miner, where it runs in the background and use all your PC performance to <strong>mine bitcoins silently<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>10. Internet Gets Disconnected Frequently<\/h2>\n<p>The origin of this problem can be from two sources: your PC or your Internet Service Provider (ISP). If you think your ISP is not the reason why this happen, then you may have a live-in malware that is <strong>stealing your bandwidth<\/strong>. It can do this by making a separate connection on your PC that can render your original session useless.<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/internet-disconnected.jpg\" alt=\"Internet Got Disconnected Frequently\" width=\"500\" height=\"212\"><\/figure>\n<p>Thanks to that, sometimes even though you can load any website fine, you might not be able to connect to your internet messenger like Skype. Hackers often use their victims\u2019 PC as proxies, for their own benefit.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are all tired of our PC getting infected or compromised but truth is sometimes, instead of having to fix an infected PC, it is better to learn about the reason why the PC is infected in the first place. There are many possible reasons for that and it all goes back to our individual&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3397],"tags":[4606,1962,4601],"topic":[4521],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.8 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>10 Signs Your PC Has Been Compromised - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We are all tired of our PC getting infected or compromised but truth is sometimes, instead of having to fix an infected PC, it is better to learn about\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/pc-compromised-signs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Signs Your PC Has Been Compromised\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We are all tired of our PC getting infected or compromised but truth is sometimes, instead of having to fix an infected PC, it is better to learn about\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/pc-compromised-signs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-08T15:01:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-18T08:16:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/pc-compromised-signs\/email-spams.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nels Dzyre\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nels Dzyre\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/pc-compromised-signs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/pc-compromised-signs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nels Dzyre\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9ddeeebe9a13534fe79269d6c72397f9\"},\"headline\":\"10 Signs Your PC Has Been Compromised\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-08T15:01:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-18T08:16:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/pc-compromised-signs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1367,\"commentCount\":14,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/pc-compromised-signs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/pc-compromised-signs\\\/email-spams.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Computer Security and Privacy\",\"rr\",\"Security and Privacy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Desktop\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/pc-compromised-signs\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/pc-compromised-signs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/pc-compromised-signs\\\/\",\"name\":\"10 Signs Your PC Has Been Compromised - 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