If your PC is much slower than usual or if it performs actions without our input, then it means that your device is infected with a virus
The security of our computer, as well as other electronic devices, should be one of the main objectives. Nowadays it is very easy to come across malware on the Net. Often hacker attacks are not recognized by antivirus software.
If the virus has passed the antivirus protections you can tell that your personal computer has been infected by other signs. For example, if we experience a general slowdown on the part of the pc, it is very likely that we have been affected by some malware. The same is also true if popup advertisements pop up on the device's screen. Unless we are using some particular program, it will mean that the computer has been infected by an adware, a virus that shows unsolicited advertisements. Here are the signs to tell if your computer is infected with a virus.
Computer performance
The first aspect to consider is the performance and speed of operation of our device. If usually the computer takes little time to open applications and programs, an infected PC will take a lot of time even to launch basic functions like a calculator. If we notice slowdowns on our device we should increase our attention, it could be the first alarm bell of a hacker attack in progress. Below normal performance may be caused by malware that is acting in the background exploiting our CPU. The computer could also be part of an infected botnet.
Browser problems
One of the main signs of an ongoing hacker attack is a browser malfunction. While browsing, it might happen to us to be redirected to unwanted and unwelcome sites, almost always related to advertisements. If this happens on our device, it is very likely that we have been subjected to a malware marketing campaign by a cyber criminal. The attacker makes money from the traffic generated by our browser, and that of other victims, on his sites with advertisements.
Pop-up
Susually with browser problems there are also sudden and unmanageable openings of pop-up advertisements. Stopping this type of cyber attacks is very simple - all we need to do is set pop-up blocker in our browser's settings. The purpose of infections generated in this way is the same as that of unwanted pages in our browser: to generate traffic, and therefore earnings, from ads.
Uncontrolled actions
Hackers never sleep. If we often leave our computer on overnight and find that it performs operations automatically, without responding to scheduled scans, most likely we have already been infected with a virus. If we experience unusual nighttime activity, it is possible that our PC has been used by a cyber criminal to feed a botnet.
New Homepage
We open the browser and instead of Google or the home page we set, we find a totally different homepage. Good, or rather bad, we have most likely suffered a hacker attack. This is a very obvious sign and should not be underestimated. Changing the front page every time is not a solution. We will have to block the malware or adware campaign to fully solve the problem. We can also reset the browser to default settings, but this is not always enough.
Website Blocking
If we happen to browse the Net but get blocked on most of the sites, then it is likely that we have been targeted by a hacker. It may happen to us that websites inform us that our IP address has been blacklisted for computer security reasons or for operations related to hacking. This is an important signal and to avoid continuing to help a cyber criminal, now no longer without our knowledge, we should isolate and quarantine our computer.
Antivirus Not Responding
Some malware is able to block antivirus operations. Especially if we have forgotten to update our security system in the last period. If this happens we won't be able to run scans and especially we won't be able to remove the infection by ourselves.