I am not sure if my computer is being hacked into, can anyone help?

Question

So, a couple days ago, I woke my computer up from hibernation, and everything was frozen. I had to forcefully shut it down. When I went to reboot, right when it started up, a small dialogue box popped up for like two seconds and it said "third party manger". Now, when I went on the computer the screen when black and opened up again in a lighter color. So, I went on Google and searched to see if I can find out if my computer is being spied upon. Then the screen went black again, for like half of a second, and the color went normal. Now, I am not sure if it is a coincidence or what, but I have Norton Anti-virus, and it is not detecting any problems.

My computer is a Sony Vaio VGN-NW240F running of Windows 7. It is new, I got it a month ago. Any help would help me protect my information if my computer is being hacked into. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Get spyware detector like SD BOT



http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html

they have a spy detector and malware detector for free.



Also download zonealarm free it will tell you whenever a program tries to access the internet.



http://download.cnet.com/ZoneAlarm/3000-10435_4-10039884.html?tag=mncol

Answer 2

"stir..." & "chol..." both make good observations:

Windows is renowned for it's misbehavior, which manifests in 'virus-like' symptoms.

It does not necessariy mean you've been hacked.



If you have 'auto update install' enabled, these just go right in without warning.

Set those to "notify" and then you do a manual install, so you know what's going on.

The most recent MS update is giving several moderately bad behaviors, and Microsoft might do a 'recall' on them until it's done right.



Try 'Restore to an earlier time' from Control Panel> Recovery.



For piece of mind, get try "Malwarebytes" free version:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/



And further; do a 'data backup' baseline (everything) when it's working correctly, then do 'incremental' backups every 2 weeks or so after that, for when you can't do anything but a re-install to fix it.

Answer 3

You might want to also check Windows Update & see if there was a bunch of updates installed the night before or morning of that you noticed you system having a different life.



There are times when I go & turn on the monitor the next morning to see my computer on the login screen & the first thing I think is that my computer is having issues, to then find out that there was updates that were installed.

Answer 4

Sounds like someone has taken remote control of you PC and possibly installed something on it, it's hard to tell though so don't take my word for it.



You should try unplugging your net connection (or disabling your wireless device if your using wireless) and seeing if that stops to random black screens. If it does, you've been hacked so you need to change your password while off-line and probably ditch Norton (it's pretty useless anyway), I recommend AVG which is has a free version if you just want to try it out.



If disconnecting doesn't do anything, you've either got a virus or your monitor is on the fritz. For a virus, just reinstall windows (backup your data before hand). For a dodgy monitor, send it back to Sony, it's covered under your warranty.

Answer 5

you seriously need to not be so paranoid, no one is hacking your machine.



it is probably some software glitch that you didn't properly research, or maybe the cable connecting the graphics card to the monitor has gone bad or something.



go through basics, reinstall video drivers, do a system restore to a point where the thing worked properly, try the monitor on a different machine and the machine with a different monitor. swap out the cable between the monitor and the computer.



don't be so paranoid, no one would go through the trouble of just harassing you for no reason.

Answer 6

If you are worried someone is connecting remotely disconnect it from the internet and look for anything suspicious. If you are not confident in your abilities to identify bad programs you might want to take it to someone to be looked over.

Answer 7

Un connected from internet and see if it douse it.

If it douse you are not getting hacked.

Answer 8

I do not know, but my advice, you should be careful.