I am not a fan of antivirus and anti-malware software. Before I continue writing, I want to say it is very important you use and continue to use antivirus software. There world would be a worse off place without it. But there is a huge discrepancy between antivirus programs. Some are good at aspects, others fail at. There is no one show fits all and they always seem to chasing the tail of the bad guys.

Every day for the past 20+ years I have seen computers with viruses and all different types of protection and security software; yet computer still keep getting infected.

My point is its good to have antivirus programs, but they are not a 100% guaranteed to keep you safe online, and nor do they claim to be. Something is better than nothing, unless that something is a fake antivirus to begin with.

This post will continue to help you decide if your computer has been hacked. You wont know for sure unless it has been professional diagnosed, but these are all good indications.

Fake Antivirus Programs

If you have an antivirus program on your computer popping up and giving you all different types of alerts, and you did not install that antivirus, it very likely is a good indication you are hacked.

Antivirus programs do not make a habit of installing their competitors software on your computer just for the sake of it. I

If you have installed one programs such as Mcafee, Norton or Kaspersky, and suddenly you are getting messages from another antivirus program, specially with a suspicious name, there is a very high chance you have either been hacked or infected.

These fake antivirus programs look very legitimate and always give you false positive results, so you will buy their upgrade, or call and give them your credit cards. When in fact, they are the virus, they are the criminals.

You A Missing Money From An Online Account

With just about everyone now using online banking or some sort of online payment system or service, these websites have become prime targets and easy options for criminals to take your hard earned money.

Smart criminals no longer have to jump through your window and break into your house to steal your money. You can be robbed over your telephone line or internet connection from anyone in the world without you even know its happening.

If you do online banking with your personal or business bank account, use your credit card online or use other services like Paypal or purchase websites like Ebay and Amazon, there is the potential there someone can rob you.

There are many ways they can go about this. Some come be done on the server or services side, but the majority is done through your own computer.

They do this with hacks in the form of software which spies on you.

This Spyware can take many forms and works by either tricking you, recording what you do, or even recording the keystrokes you press on your computer and send them to somewhere safe, usually overseas.

If you have money missing from any of your banking or online financial accounts, you should call your bank straight away and cease using your computer unit is has been thoroughly checked.

Private Data, Information and Photos Have Been Leaked

Private Professional and Personal Data is big business. Both criminals and professional enterprises base their whole business model on accessing and collection personal and professional information, bother legally and illegally.

For whatever motive, such as knowing what you buy so they can advertise to you, to using personal information to use against you, there are lots of people out there who see you as a big walking dollar sign and the key to them accessing this is using your data.

Data can be anything stored on your computer such as documents, financial information, personal information, photos and movies and anything else you can think of stored on your computer.

If some of this information is getting out, either into the hands of other people or you are finding it posted online on the internet, your computer could have been hacked, someone might have accessed your information and there could be a security hole in your computer.

Someone Has Contacted You

It’s pretty normal now to receive unsolicited phone calls and emails from people and services you didn’t request, know or use..

Sometimes they come over the telephone pretending they are from a service you use and other times its through an email. A lot of these people do this not really knowing you use a certain service like Telstra, but they know enough Australians use that service so sooner or later someone will believe and that’s when they start their scam.

However, sometimes these people can contact you only knowing very specific information that you keep on your computer, laptop or desktop.

If that is the case, there is a good chance your computer has indeed been hacked by a criminals over the internet.

I am not talking about broad guessing statement like you have a program on your computer naked Microsoft Office (just about everyone does), but something much more specific like the name of personal documents or a identical description of the wallpaper you have on your desktop.

If this is the case, turn your computer off immediately, block there telephone number and call Townsville computer repair Nerds for a 100% Free no obligation diagnosis and quote.

Your Antivirus Software Has Been Uninstalled

Yep, your not imagining it. It use to be there and now its not, and it didn’t uninstall itself.

For criminals trying to hack your computer, your antivirus system is the first, last and usually online of defence against potentially unwanted programs, malware and hackers from taking over your computer or laptop.

If there are security vulnerabilities within your computer, hackers and computer programs specifically designed to take hold of your system can take advantage of these vulnerabilities to connect to your computer, remove your antivirus programs and take control of your system.

Your computer is always going to have a weak point. Operating systems are notorious for people finding vulnerabilities to take advantage of That’s why a lot of them are always pushing out updates and upgrades, because they are behind the baddies.

The same goes for antivirus programs. Every day they are finding new and harmful viruses and issue updates to help protect your system.

However, there seems to be a wide open 24 hour window though, for criminals to be able to access you system, between when a new vulnerability is found and when the software company issues the remedy update.