Have you been getting the sense that something about your computer’s functionality is more irregular than just high memory usage? Remote computer hacking can take on many different insidious forms, and it isn’t uncommon for people to go days or even months without realizing their system has been compromised by a third party.
Strangely high disk usage
If your computer isn’t actively running any programs, seeing the usage statistic as high as 90% is generally always a sign of foul play. You might notice that as soon as you boot up your computer it seems to be acting as though you’ve opened five different programs at once. You may want to check your data security as this might be a breach that is causing issues with your computer.
If you can’t accurately pinpoint just what programs are making your disk usage sore so high without being prompted, it may pay off to take a look at your startup program queue. It’s typical for hackers to infect the victim’s computer with a script that silently activates a bulk of unwanted startup processes as soon as the computer is turned on.
Unresponsive task manager
An unresponsive task manager in some of the more aggravatingly thorough cases of hacking, you may find yourself unable to even open up your task manager to attempt getting some kind of insight into just what’s making your computer operate so slowly. In the event that you can’t even seem to get task manager to open up, then it’s almost certain that an infectious program has taken root in your system to keep you from addressing the issue directly. Try booting up the computer in Safe Mode so that you can access task manager without interference and see what unwanted processes are causing the problems.
Unprompted service initiation or window creation
One of the most clear-cut signs that you’ve been hacked is when internet windows spontaneously open without clicking on anything. If hackers have managed to penetrate your system particularly deep, then you may find that certain programs you don’t remember installing will open at completely random times. You may also encounter the odd issue of hearing audio play in the background without actually having any browsers or video players open.
Compromised antivirus
Persistent hackers will go to great lengths to try taking advantage of less-savvy users. In order to make it harder to remedy your work, once the system has been successfully infected it’s typical for antivirus programs to be shut down and rendered useless. If you find that your antivirus programs aren’t even responding to threats in a normal fashion, then you may be able to work around the issue by using a web-based scanner instead of the disabled program.
While some of the infection patterns can be slightly more subtle than others, there’s generally always a sign that will tip you off that something is amiss. There are thousands of different kinds of malware known for freezing antivirus programs and activating unwanted programs. Thankfully, many of them have been archived in online databases and can be immediately identified after a web-based scan has been conducted.