You Have Been Hacked: 5 Killer Ways to Undo Hacking

Featured article by Catherine Hernandez, Independent Technology Author

Do you have the feeling you have been hacked? If so, chances are that you’re right. Computer hacking is only getting more advanced. If you need some confirmation, check out this article for the obvious signs you’ve been hit.

Today’s hackers are smarter and faster than ever before.

Statistics show that hackers steal anywhere from $1 to $450 dollars per account and then sell the information they have gained on the dark web, according to Credit Donkey. It’s also been reported that they use stolen information in as little as 9 minutes after stealing it and continue to use it up to 1200 times before its dismissed. Furthermore, in one year they managed to rob 158 million individual’s social security numbers in a total of 1579 security breaches.

Is there anything that can be done to safeguard yourself from becoming a victim of cyber fraud or minimize the damage once hackers have gained access to your confidential information?

There are telltale signs that can alert you when you have been hacked. Knowing what to look for may help minimize damage from a cyber attack.

Read on to find out how to tell you’ve been hacked!

Think You Have Been Hacked? Here’s How You Can Tell & What to Do Next

In 2016, The Atlantic published an article, based on their own research, claiming that those of us using a publicly accessible IP address are likely to stand a 100% chance of being hacked.

The chance appears to be greatly reduced when accessing the internet via a private home wi-fi connection. But, most users tend to tap into public wireless on a regular basis, either through their office, mobile device, or another publicly-routed source.

These findings offer little hope in our ability to avoid becoming a victim of cyber scammers.

However, knowing what signs to look for might cut down on the damage inflicted by a hacker’s attack.

Once you realize that your information has been compromised, you can often fix a cybersecurity breach faster. And, you can also take measures to prevent future damage from taking place.

Here’s how to know for sure that you’re sharing your info with an unwelcome cyber thief.

5 Sure Signs That You’ve Been Hacked & What You to Do Next

Awareness is key to halting and reversing hacker’s schemes. If you notice these signs, then chances are, you’ve already been victimized.

1. Unexplained Financial Activity

One of the most serious examples of this is when you notice unauthorized spending has occurred in your financial accounts.

Sometimes, an isolated incident that involves a repeated charge, or multiple charges incurred by a specific merchant, can be chalked up to a mistake or misunderstanding. But, if you find that there have been payments made to a variety of merchants, especially to merchants that you have never done business with, you’ve almost certainly become the victim of a scam.

What to Do Next

Many times, hackers intercept your financial information through one of your online payment accounts, such as eBay or Amazon.

Never ignore any suspicious behavior associated with your financial accounts, even if there appears to be only one charge or the activity is similar to that occurring from a merchant error or oversight.

Immediately, you should contact your financial institution and alert them of the suspicious behavior and illegitimate charges. Let them know that you wish to dispute any charges that you were not responsible for and tell them that you want to freeze your account to stop any future charges that may come through.

If the charges have been made using your credit or debit card, you will need to cancel that card and request that they issue a new card.

Your financial institution should be able to guide you through the necessary process to ensure that you recoup lost funds and are not responsible for the hacker’s spending.

Avoid Future Attacks

To avoid future attacks, you should enable SMS or email notifications every time that a charge is made to your account. In addition, you should make a habit of checking your account activity and balance regularly, if you are not already doing so.

Always make sure that when you share payment information, the site is secure. Whenever possible, you should only share your account details over a private, secure wi-fi connection that others cannot access publicly.

Many small businesses have begun outsourcing security if they are unable to adequately monitor their clients’ accounts. For individuals who are unfamiliar with securing accounts, it may be beneficial to consider a company that specializes in account protection as well.

2. Performance Issues

If you notice a major change in your computer or device’s performance, it should be considered a red flag.

Some of the issues that might tip you off to hacker’s behavior include:

– Decreased loading speed of videos and content
– Your gadget begins freezing or becomes notably slower
– Programs and apps start crashing
– Your device suddenly restarts
– You notice an influx of scammy pop-up ads

Buggy software often runs in the background, which tends to slow your performance considerably. Over time, your device will begin to freeze or crash, seemingly out of nowhere.

You might also begin to see a stream of suspicious ads popping up.

When you observe sudden or peculiar changes in your computer’s performance, there’s a good chance that hackers are on the prowl.

What to Do Next

You can check to see which apps or programs are running through your device settings or PC’s task manager. If you find any that you have not initiated, you should not only quit running these or “end task”, but visit your control panel settings to uninstall and permanently disable the fishy programs.

Then, you should always shut down and restart your computer once you have halted any suspicious tasks from running. Upon restart, you should check to make sure that the program has been completely disabled and is no longer running or listed among programs/apps.

Prevent Future Attacks

Install a trusted program, such as McAfee, to keep your computer and devices safe from cyber threats. Choose one that will also alert you when there has been an attempt that has been blocked. And, check your apps and software regularly for any unauthorized items.

Also, it helps to regularly scan for ransomware and spyware, clean and improve performance, and remove any bugs that are found by your security software.

3. An Unexplained Spike in Data Usage

A sudden or dramatic increase in data could indicate more than one source is tapping into internet usage.

What to Do Next

Check your wi-fi settings and IP address to determine how many users are connected. If you recognize an unauthorized user, you will need to block them and reset your passwords to prevent re-entry.

Avoid Future Attacks

Always use passwords that attackers won’t be able to easily guess. From time to time, it’s a good idea to change these, even if you haven’t noticed recent hacker behavior.

Keep your connections secure, log out completely, and delete activity after accessing public networks.

4. Malfunctioning Software

Hackers often use a specific software on your computer or device as their access point to gain entry to other sources of information. If you find that one of your programs is acting up, you might have cause for concern.

What to Do Next

Take measures to prevent losing important data, such as saving to a USB. Then uninstall the program completely and shut down your device. Upon restart, safely reinstall the program.

Prevent Future Attacks

To minimize the possibility of hacker’s accessing vital programs, consider installing a service that protects your most critical software directly. For example, you might employ a WordPress maintenance service if you rely on WordPress regularly, either for personal or professional use.

You should make sure that any software that you download comes from a verified source. Also, you can check in your device’s control panel to make sure that you only allow downloads from verified sources and that your consent is required prior to allowing programs or apps.

5. Suspicious Log-In to Password Protected Accounts

If you notice that you are logged in to one of your accounts on more than one device, or a device that you are unfamiliar with, then there is a definite possibility that you might have been hacked.

What to Do Next

Log out of all unused devices and block devices that you have never used or that appear suspicious. Then, reset your passwords to something that others won’t be able to guess. It’s best to include passwords with a variety of character and symbol types, such as upper and lower case letters, punctuation symbols and numbers.

How to Avoid Future Attacks

Never share your passwords with others. If their connection is compromised, then you risk having your information shared with scammers.

CNBC reports that recent research indicates over one-third of millennials are sharing their passwords for streaming media accounts, such as Netflix an Hulu. Not only does this cost the media company money, it also puts people at an increased risk of having their info hacked. This is especially true if you tend to use the same password over multiple account platforms.

If you do share your password to Netflix, or a similar account, then you should make sure that you only use that password for the account you have granted outside access. Also, it helps to take measures to ensure that passwords are unique combinations as described in the section above.

Find Out More About Cyber Security!

If you have been hacked, you’ll need to work quickly to fix the breach and potentially salvage any confidential information that the attacker may access.

When it comes to cybersecurity and protecting yourself from hackers, it’s important to stay informed of the latest news, developments, and methods to safeguard your cyber activity.

Want to learn more?

Contact us to find out how to protect yourself and your business from cyber threats today!