HAS MY HOME BEEN HACKED?
For a home network, advanced measures such as SIEM, SOAR and UEBA aren’t practical, but there are some red flags you can look out for as indications that you may have been compromised.
1 Suddenly sluggish performance
This can be caused by something unaccounted-for eating up your computer’s resources. A continually running fan, a laptop that gets unusually hot or a battery that conks out in double-quick time can all also be clues that a rogue process is working the processor hard.
2 An unusual spike in network traffic
This is another sign that something is amiss; it could be caused by someone exfiltrating your data, using your internet link to fire off spam or initiating a flood of connections for a DDoS attack. If you have a fast internet service you might not notice an unusual load, but many routers include traffic monitoring and management features that can help.
3 Non-functioning passwords
When hackers gain access to an online service or router, the first thing they’ll often do is change the password, to prevent you from checking up on their activity and kicking them out. If you find you’re unexpectedly locked out of an account, take action sooner rather than later.
4 Odd pop-ups
We said that modern infections like to lie low, but there’s a particular species of malware that does the opposite, throwing up alarms and alerts that typically warn you of computer issues or (ironically enough) a virus infection. You’ll then be urged to buy a particular piece of software or visit a website to “fix the problem” – needless to say, it’s a scam.
5 Unexpected search results or web content
A router hack or a devious piece of malware can hijack your traffic, sending you to unfamiliar sites, or bogus phishing copies of legitimate ones. You could easily be tricked into entering personal or business-critical information, such as webmail or cloud login details. These sites can also install further malware on your machine.
In all cases, if you think you might have been breached you should follow the usual security procedures. Ensure the OS, applications and firmware are up to date on all your devices; perform a thorough antivirus scan; check system and network settings; and change any passwords that might have been compromised.