Hackers get into your computer for a variety of reasons. Some want to steal sensitive information and sell it on the dark web. Others will hold your computer and demand a ransom to get it back, while others will put you in a situation where they will use your computer automatically to hack other people. Of course, if the hacker doesn't ask for anything from you, it will take a while before you realize that you have been hacked. And when you do, you may need more than one software to prevent the invasion. You should follow the steps below to restore your computer.
Before you even decide to use an antivirus or malware removal program, the first thing you must do when you realize you have been hacked is to quarantine your computer. This means you should disconnect your computer from any internet source and from all networks. Remember that the hacker needs the Internet to collect sensitive data from your computer.
Do not attempt to disable Wi-Fi access via the computer, as a hacker who has compromised your computer can block you or even deceive you into thinking you are offline. Instead, turn off your router or unplug the network cable. Make sure your computer is no longer connected to any corporate or home device networks, to avoid any infection.
Remove your hard drive
The goal now is to try to recover your hard drive. Although you may be tempted to immediately use a virus or malware, note that the virus might not be removed even with these programs. Also, the fact that the hacker got into your system anyway means that something is wrong with your antivirus.
Therefore, you must disconnect your hard drive. Then set it as “slave drive” and connect it to another computer. You could also install a new drive as the primary drive on the same computer and set your infected drive as slave drive. Setting it to slave, the new computer will not try to boot from this infected drive. There are several ways to connect your drive. One is opening the computer to remove the drive, the other via a USB caddy. At this stage, it is important to ensure you have well-configured antivirus and malware protection software on the main drive.
Scanning and creating backups of your files
The next step is to scan the slave drive for the malicious code that the hacker used to infiltrate your computer. If you are using a default antivirus that is already linked to your computer, it may be time to upgrade to something more powerful. Perform multiple full scans wherever possible, using different anti-virus and malware protection software.
After you ensure that the disk has discarded the hacker's fingerprint, you can proceed and store all relevant data. If you have not created backups of your data, this should be the first step that should be done regularly. Make sure you back up only the relevant files. After you do this, you can then delete this move. Do not use only the formatting function. There are different disk wiping utilities you can use. The point is to have an empty hard drive that has been cleared of the virus or the hacker's malware, regardless of how hidden it is.
Restart again
The next step is to reinstall a new operating system on your empty hard drive. Make sure you download it from a reputable source and not from a torrent site. You can also install the applications you need. After installing a new, robust antivirus or anti-malware software, you can proceed to copy the files you have saved from the old hard drive.
Make sure you immediately changed all the passwords you had entered on the old hard drive. Consider using a password manager in the future if you need to log in to multiple platforms.
