Question

A customer brings you her laptop computer and tells you that it will not connect to any Wi-Fi networks. She tells you that it was working yesterday, and that she was on the web updating her Facebook page and then downloading a coupon-shopping program. Now she cannot connect to the Internet.

A friend asks you to look at his laptop computer. He tells you that any time the screen is moved, the image on the screen flickers and then goes blank. He also says that when he is on the World Wide Web, random webpages open without his authorization. When he tries to close them, more of these pages open up.

Answer 1

Both cases are related to hacking. In the first case, when the customer downloaded a coupon-shopping program, she basically installed a malicious program in her system. This malicious programs are written to gain the unauthorized control of the system. There are few signs those indicate that the system is hacked. The signs are below.

• Get unwanted messages
• Internet searches are redirected and random webpages open without authorization
• Frequent crashes or unusually slow computer performance
• Unknown programs that startup when start the system
• New icons appear on dashboard
• Unable to connect to the Internet
• The cursor moves on its own.
• Victims are forwarded to different websites

Resolution:

• Run a full virus scan to detect the malware and viruses infecting the computer
• Review the applications installed on the device. If any developer or vendor doesn't seem legitimate, uninstall the app right away.
• Delete all unfamiliar programs
• Change the passwords for online accounts.
• Check the firewall
• If the issues still persist then do a clean format of the system or ask a specialist