Well, you’re right, there’s someone behind your computer’s behavior. Someone with motives and tech knowledge that’s applied in favor of not-so-friendly goals.

By gaining unauthorized access to networks and computers, these criminals play very tough jokes on us. Well, that’s the best scenario probably.

May 18, 2017  Second, act quickly if you suspect your personal information has been stolen. If you have an account with a company that reports a breach, change that password immediately. You can check if any of your accounts have been stolen on haveibeenpwned, a website run by a Microsoft security researcher that searches data breach info dumps. Jul 20, 2018  Of course, this assumes your MacBook is secured with a password. If you use a very weak, easily guessable password or set up automatic login, the thief can easily gain access. If you enabled Find My Mac, you can use Apple’s Find My iPhone tool (yes, Macs appear in it, too) to remotely lock and erase your Mac. Aug 22, 2016  1 # Can I Tell If My Mac Has Been Hacked. To determine if your mac has been already hacked by hackers you have to know if things. First of all, you've to spot some sign of possible hacking. You'll have to consider whether anything out of the usual is happening on your notebook. You know how your computer runs better than anyone else.

The worst case? They rob personal and financial data to extort victims in exchange for money. HBO executives probably recall this.

But it’s not probable… Right?

Well… Yeah, it is. Computerworld states that at least 90% of all US-based companies have suffered an attack, while 65% of internet users globally have been a victim of some sort of cyber-crime.

If your PC has been hacked or infected with a virus, or some kind malware, you have to take quick action to protect your information and prevent the attack’s spread through your computer.

These are the three steps you should take when things go downhill and you have to scream: ****, my computer was hacked!

All hackers look like this, right?

Change your passwords

I really hope your password isn’t 12345. According to Betterbuys, “it only takes five hours to decipher a password that’s 6 basic characters long”. On the other hand, if you double the number and pick a password that’s 12 characters long, it takes two centuries.

That’s why the first step is: change your PC’s access password.

Actually, change all your passwords. I mean it. Email, social, subscriptions, etc. Every service you have access to holds precious information, including billing options that are authorized for use and personal data.

Listen to this user’s story on how he secured his Mac and arrested the thief. (Dramatized from this original story).

Intego points out that in some situations, you could be the cause that triggered the hacking. How? Well, believe it or not, you may have given your password to a hacker without noticing.

One password is enough to grant access to all sort of accounts. So double check its strength and do think it through.

Let’s up the bar and reinforce yours! According to Digicert, there are five criteria you should follow when creating a safe password.

• • It needs to be at least 8 characters long

• • It shouldn’t include personal information, like your name, your username, or your company’s name. Get creative with it, have fun!

• • It has to be different from your previous ones.

• • If possible don’t include complete words.

• Create it using characters from all four categories: lower and upper case, numbers and symbols.

Quarantine your PC

LifeWire suggests you isolate the infected computer as soon as possible. As long as you’re connected to the internet, the hacker has access to the device and its directory.

Cut the network cable! OK, no. Stop, it’s less dramatic. Simply unplug your computer from the network and avoid any kind of connection. You wouldn’t want to infect others!

PS: You take care of the cyber in cybercrime and we’ll take care of crime for you! Get your phones, tablets, and laptops protected with Prey for FREE.

Make sure you’re offline and turn all Wi-Fi connections off, both by software and hardware. Some laptops even have a switch for this.

Why hardware? Well LifeWire explains that it’s quite possible that you’re being tricked by the attackers, who would like you to think you are offline while their malware works happily in the background.

Spread the word!

Usually hackers try to spread through individual breaches, and the reason is simple: none of your friends would probably suspect from you.

So before you spam a virus to your family, friends, and coworkers… Give a heads up. Protect your core group and try to notify it immediately to avoid unpleasant situations.

Intego also explains how hackers use your email to send messages pretending to be you.

Can A Desktop Mac Be Hacked And Information Stolen Car

And let’s not forget about the most embarrassing outcome: when hackers post stuff in your social accounts. Yup, that sucks. They never share a good meme, it’s always a shameful day for the victim.

So, it’s pretty clear why it’s important to protect your personal and professional circle from these posts. They might make a few jokes about your browsing history, but they will also avoid falling into the same pit.

Conclusion: Be Ready

Prevention is the cornerstone of virtual security and the best defense against hackers. Turn off your computer when you’re not using it; save sensible files on portable HDDs; and don’t be afraid of data encryption.

These tips are both effective and super easy to implement.

Cyber-crimes are a real threat, and the methods implemented prove to be creative and accessible for anyone that has time and a reason.

But if you act quickly enough, you’ll have a key advantage that might make the difference when trying to recover your files and minimize the damage. Time to get ready and react!

We’ve probably all encountered those bogus “Windows Support” phone calls, and I’m sure most know that the calls are a scam.

Dell customers, on the other hand, aren’t so lucky.

News is breaking this week that Dell’s customer service database is in the hands of scammers. There are numerous reports of Dell customers receiving phone calls from “support techs” that knew everything about a customer, including the customer’s name, email, account info, and everything down to the support tag and device serial number.

Those cold-callers ultimately proved to be scammers out to con Dell’s customers out of fake service fees, but that is not the scary part. No, the scary part is that these scam phone calls have been going on since at least May 2015, and Dell doesn’t seem to be able to stop it.

10 Zen Monkeys broke the story yesterday when they reported:

Scammers pretending to be from Dell computers phoned me in November — but these scammers knew things about me. They identified the model number for both my Dell computers, and knew every problem that I’d ever called Dell about. None of this information was ever posted online, so it’s not available anywhere except Dell’s own customer service records. (Even my e-mail account is secured with “two-step verification”…)

Can A Desktop Mac Be Hacked And Information Stolen Iphone

I called the (real) Dell, and spoke to a customer support representative named Mark, who tried to explain how the scammers knew my account history.

“Dell has detected hackers,” he said. “They’re hacking our web site.”

The story is only just breaking in the tech blogosphere, but the earliest reports are eight months old, and there have been over a dozen similar reports in June, July, September, October, and November.

The reports are frighteningly consistent. Many read like this:

I just got a call on my cell phone from someone with a foreign accent who knew my name and said he was from Dell, and that over the last few weeks they have been getting reports from my Dell computer that there is a problem. Was Dell hacked and customer information stolen?? There is no other way the person would have my name, cell phone # and know I had a Dell computer if it didn’t come from your company.

It’s not clear whether Dell’s database has been hacked or whether the out-sourced tech support is making some extra money on the side, but we do know from the many reports that this is a widespread problem.

And to make matters worse, the scammers are using security flaws in Dell’s support software to take control of a victim’s computer:

They called my parents house from number 800-425-0090 they knew his model, his name, and account from Dell. They scared him into thinking his computer has viruses at which point they used Dell’s assistant program to take control of the PC. They also knew how to do this. When my father realized they were trying to scare him, he asked for them to leave a notepad message saying what was wrong with the PC. They left a notepad text file saying viruses, hacking. This is definitely a scam and furthermore they have information only Dell would have and used Dell’s program to gain access.

Dell keeps telling everyone that they are going to fix the problem; meanwhile the reports keep rolling in.

Clearly Dell’s customers are going to have to protect themselves, so here are five rules for handling a scam phone call:

One, get the caller’s name and extension number and call them back, but be sure to place the call to the toll-free support number listed on the Dell website. The goal is to verify the caller’s identity and relationship with Dell, so DO NOT call the number provided.

Two, if you get a first and last name, try to look the caller up on LinkedIn. See if he has a profile which says he currently works at Dell. Not all valid support techs will, but if you find a profile then you can use it to judge the caller’s trustworthyness.

Three, make a note of the number they are calling you from and Google it to see if there are other reports of scammers. (And yes, you can make them wait while you Google the phone number. A scammer deserves it, and a real support tech will understand your caution.)

Four, treat every call as if it is a scam by asking probing questions that may or may not be true so you can gauge their response. You can also try to try to trick the potential scammer into making a mistake by providing false information.

Five, don’t hesitate to listen to your gut and simply hang up on the caller. If that proves to be a mistake, you can always pursue this through a secure channel like the Dell website.

found via Daring Fireball

images by MShades,

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