Your Computer Has Been Compromised? 7 Ways to Fix it Now
- If your computer has been compromised, it important to look for any suspicious activity.
- Look for changed passwords, unknown logins, applications or messages on all your online accounts.
- Having a reliable antivirus is the best way to protect yourself and remove any malware from your PC.
Many issues can occur on your PC, but one of the most troubling ones is when your PC is hacked.
When this happens, your data, personal information, login credentials, and your PC is at a disposal of a hacker, and he can do with them as he pleases.
Speaking of which, even websites can get hacked, and many reported This site may be hacked messages in their browser.
In this guide, we’re going to cover what can you do if your computer has been compromised, so be sure to keep on reading.
What can I do if my computer has been compromised?
How to know if the computer is hacked?
1. Inability to login into certain services
If you can’t log in to a specific service, such as your email, for example, there’s a possibility of a hacker attack
Hackers will usually try to steal your accounts and change their passwords so they can keep using them. If you can’t log in to a certain service anymore, and you’re 100% sure that your password is correct, you may be dealing with a hack.
Keep in mind that this can affect any online service, including your email provider, your bank, social networks, your Microsoft Account, etc.
Speaking of which, we have a specialized guide on what to do if your Microsoft Account is hacked, so we advise reading it for more information.
2. Suspicious logins
Some hackers are more subtle, and instead of stealing your account and changing your password, they will continue using it without your knowledge to collect other data.
If you manage to log in to your account, always check the account activity and history. If you notice some unusual logins, somebody may have access to your account.
Do keep in mind this information isn’t always 100% correct, but if you notice login sessions from a different country there’s a good chance that someone hacked you.
3. Changes to your software
Unusual changes on the computer are a sign of a malware attack. In most cases, you might get suspicious applications suddenly appearing or random pop-up windows.
Sometimes these applications will even start automatically with your PC, so you won’t even know that they are running.
Many of these applications will also try to connect to the Internet so if you notice any unusual traffic, that can be a sign of malware.
In less severe instances, your default start page and search engine in the browser will change, but that is easily fixable.
4. Your accounts send unwanted messages
If your computer has been compromised, then you’ll notice suspicious activity from your online accounts. The most common occurrence is sending unwanted emails from your account.
So be sure to check all communication platforms for any messages unknown messages.
If you notice that messages have been sent from your account, and you don’t remember sending them, your accounts are likely hacked.
5. Performance issues
If your PC is hacked, you might experience slowdowns and other issues. Some viruses will work constantly in the background, thus negatively affecting your performance.
While certain applications just use your resources for no reason, others can utilize the power of your PC to generate cryptocurrency, therefore be sure to keep a close eye on your performance.
What to do if my computer has been hacked?
1. Scan your PC for malware
- Press Windows key + S and type defender. Select Windows Security from the list.
- Navigate to Virus & Threat protection and select Quick scan.
- If this scan doesn’t find anything click on the Scan options.
- Select Full scan and click the Scan button.
- Wait for the process to finish.
- For extremely pesky malware we suggest using the Microsoft Defender Offline scan feature.
So how good is Windows Defender? It’s one of the more secure antivirus applications, and it’s available on all versions of Windows.
While Windows Defender offers some great features, it might not have certain advanced options that some users require.
If you’re one of those users that want to bring their system security to a new level, then you might want to consider using a compatible Windows 10 and 11 antivirus software.
Always use security software that can scan your system before it boots to remove any hidden malware.
In order to always be secured against online harmful attacks, you can the lightweight antivirus from ESET Internet Security.
The software will totally scan your PC and protect it with multilayered protection or Network Inspector functionality.
⇒ Get ESET Internet Security
2. Change account passwords
- Try to log in to the desired service.
- If you’re not able to, use the Forgot Password option to reset your password.
- Once you manage to log in, navigate to the settings and look for the option to change the password.
- Enter your new password and save it.
Repeat these steps for all online services you use. This includes your email address and all social media websites.
3. Disable unknown startup applications
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Navigate to the Startup tab.
- Now locate any unknown items on the list, right-click them and choose Disable.
- Do this for all unknown startup items.
After doing that, you need to disable startup services as well.
- Press the Windows key + R and enter msconfig. Press Enter.
- Navigate to the Services tab. Check Hide all Microsoft services and click on Disable all.
- Click on Apply and OK and restart your PC.
Keep in mind that this solution won’t remove the malware, but it will prevent the malware from starting with your PC.
Now you need to go through disabled services and apps and try to find out the malicious software.
4. Remove any unknown applications
- Press the Windows key + X and select Apps and Features.
- Set Sort by to Install date.
- Now look for any unknown applications. Select the desired one and click on Uninstall.
- Follow the instructions on the screen to remove them.
- Do this for all unknown software.
In addition, it can be more effective to erase your unused applications and junk files using specialized cleaning software like CCleaner.
This optimizing tool can analyze your entire system and detect residual files from different programs on your PC.
You can as well erase software registry entries or browser cookies in order to free up valuable space from your device.
5. Block unknown applications from going through your firewall
- Press Windows key + S and type firewall. Select Allow an app through Windows Firewall.
- You’ll now see a list of applications that are interacting with your firewall.
- Look for any suspicious applications.
- Double-click the application to see its location and additional information.
- Be sure to do a quick search online and confirm that the application you want to disable is malicious.
- Click on Change settings.
- Uncheck the application that you want to block.
- Click on OK to save changes.
It’s crucial to do proper research before you disable the certain application from accessing the Web. Disabling the wrong application may lead to issues with certain software or Windows components.
6. Reset your browser to default
- In your browser click on the More button and select Settings.
- Click on Advanced and then select Reset and clean up.
- Navigate to Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Click on Reset settings to confirm.
By doing so, you’ll reset the browser to the default, and remove all your browsing history, extensions, and bookmarks will be removed.
This method is useful if you’re getting Your computer has been compromised message or if you notice any other strange behavior in your web browser.
7. Clean install Windows and format your hard drives
This process will completely remove all files from your PC, so you might want to back up only the most essential files before proceeding.
- Create Windows 10 installation media.
- Connect the flash drive to your PC and restart it.
- Press F4 or any other assigned key to open the boot menu.
- Select your USB flash drive.
- Choose Install now.
- Now select Custom install.
- Select your drive and click on Format.
- Do the same for all your partitions.
- Now select the correct drive and start the installation.
- Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the process.
Keep in mind that this is an advanced solution, therefore, use it only if you know how to properly reinstall Windows 10 and if other solutions didn’t help you remove the malware.
How to unlock a computer that has been hacked?
If your PC has been affected by ransomware and you can’t access it anymore, you need to use decrypter software to unlock it.
Keep in mind that these applications aren’t 100% effective, and their effectiveness depends on ransomware that is affecting your PC.
If that doesn’t work, your only option might be to format your hard drives and reinstall Windows.
These are just some of the methods that you can use if your computer has been compromised, and depending on the severity of the issue, you might not have to use them all.
If you want to ensure that your PC remains safe, we strongly suggest that you consider using anti-hacking software since it will prevent malware from running on your computer.
What methods do you use to deal with hacked PC? Let us know in the comments section below.
