How to Tell If You've Been Hacked
- 1). Check your network activity. If you notice that your uploaded data is way higher than it normally is, especially if you haven't been using the computer for a period of time, you have reason to suspect an intrusion into your machine.
- 2). Monitor your hard drive activity. If your hard drive is extremely active when you're not using the computer, it tells you that something else is accessing the drive. This could be a hacker.
- 3). Run security software. Hacking in the traditional sense of a website being hacked is not something that happens as often on a home computer, but malware and viruses are installed all the time that have just as detrimental an effect. Run virus software regularly to detect and eliminate threats.
- 4). Check log files on your website occasionally. If you notice something far out of the ordinary, you may have been hacked. Also, set up an account with Google Webmaster tools and check the diagnostics section regularly. It will often flag your site if any malware has been installed on your server.
- 5). Assume that you have either had your email hacked or been infected with some sort of a virus if your friends start complaining about receiving spam from you. For instance, if your friends' Facebook profiles suddenly become littered with junk posts you didn't actually send but which appear to be from you, your Facebook account likely got hacked.