Have I been hacked? Use our Checklist & find out

Have I been Hacked?

Have I been Hacked is often something we are asked by customers, but we want to go through steps to help identify any such issues?

Any business that has online dealings should be aware of the dangers online, there is always a threat of hackers. If the severity of the attack is low it is highly possible it will go unnoticed, the damage can be done before any discovery is made.

We need to make sure any potential threats are discovered before they cause irreparable damage to your infrastructure.

If you have been hacked by an outside force, the signs may not be obvious but you can detect there is something wrong with your network, with this we can look for the warning signs as below:

Are you still asking have you been hacked?

There can be many warning signs, but often they may be dismissed as general computer issues. Have a look at the following for any possible signs of attack:

Browser highjacked

Your default Search Engine may be compromised resulting in you being taken to an untrustworthy source. The result of this can mean your Search Traffic is compromised and also you could be served ads or Phishing Attempts.

Browser toolbars

If you have noticed any additional toolbars you are unfamiliar with these can be malicious, they can contain Adware, Malware or cause other problems with your computer.

Missing files

Have you suddenly lost files that you are certain you didn’t remove?

It could be a user error but it may be more sinister, a hacker may have moved or removed files, the computer may have been infected with Ransomware causing the files to be encrypted and in some scenarios, the file will not look the same to the user so they may think the file is missing.

Slow Computer response time

An infected computer that is infected with Malware, Worms, or other Viruses can slow down considerably as the resources will be eaten up by the running processes.

Questionable log files

A clear way to tell if you have been hacked would be if you have Administrators or users accessing the network from strange locations.

You should check user activity logs and also make sure there are no new users created that you do not recognise. A method often used in Cyber Attacks is to create a new username with usable permissions and try to go undetected, we see this when taking on new clients with managing their Office 365.

Have I been hacked as the Event log shows lots of errors?

Definitely not, this is one way scammers exploit you, they use a built-in Windows feature that allows you to view Windows Events. It is perfectly normal to display multiple error messages in the event logs.

What else can we do?

Making sure you have an Antivirus with active threat prevention would definitely be a step in the right direction, another thing that can be done is to limit your account permissions so in the event of a hack that the damage can be limited.

If you are unsure if you have been hacked or want to make sure you prevent an attack in the future,Hamilton Group can do a Network Audit to make sure you are okay.