Active Now

Slartibartfast
Discussion » Questions » Computers and the Internet » Have you ever been hacked?

Have you ever been hacked?

Lots of people claim to have been hacked, and sometimes it's true. Sometimes it's just a malfuinction or a virus. What's your personal experience? What happened? What was the outcome?

Posted - February 18, 2017

Responses


  • Yes, mostly by friends and with some of my knowledge. 
    In reality it's like viruses, most people that have been probably never find out about it.
      February 18, 2017 7:57 PM MST
    1

  • It's one of the mysteries to me. I just don't understand it at all. I guess there's a real-life Lisbeth Salander out there somewhere, waiting to get into my computer but I've never been aware of her actually doing it. 
      February 18, 2017 8:02 PM MST
    0

  • Might not be directly looking to get into Didge's computer.
      February 18, 2017 8:22 PM MST
    1

  • Yes , I have,  by someone I  knew well ... Into my email account and social media.... That was hundreds years ago though ... or five :) 
      February 18, 2017 8:04 PM MST
    2

  • How did you find out?
      February 18, 2017 8:23 PM MST
    1

  • I found out when went on vacation and he started posting stuff on my social media. So found out when got back to Canada. Was a mess to deal with for me. It was a Mess for me 
      February 18, 2017 8:27 PM MST
    2

  • Unpleasant! 
      February 18, 2017 8:29 PM MST
    1

  • It was ... But I  was careless, in honesty  ... Have had a protective order against him for few years now ... Live and learn :)
      February 18, 2017 8:32 PM MST
    2

  • 22891
    yes, thats happened to me and ive had to call yahoo to straighten it out, whats even worse is when someone hacks into your bank acct and takes a lot of money out, thats happened to me too and the bank will put the money back while they investigate too
      February 18, 2017 8:22 PM MST
    1

  • Sorry that happened to you, Pearl. Glad you got it sorted out. The banks are pretty good at looking after hijacked accounts -- although some of them insist on you taking extra precautions, like having a validation code texted to your phone. Thanks for sharing.
      February 18, 2017 8:25 PM MST
    0

  • 154
    I can't say that I've been hacked but I was a victim of identity theft. Now that is truly a mess to get straightened out.
      February 19, 2017 5:57 AM MST
    1

  • I'm sorry to hear that. I can't imagine how difficult it was to resolve.
      February 19, 2017 6:29 AM MST
    0

  • 1440
    honestly  in the past, i always been cautious about virus but i know computers are complicated, and i didnt believed a 'dangerous infection' could happen..



    well it was crazyyyy.....



    i guess 2 years ago, i had my computer infected by a virus, and it was so crazy.....



    i knew the virus was there, but i googled and i did efforts to try delete the virus, but it was difficult...


    i guess they didnt knew how to cure the computer of that...


    anyways, and one day, most of my computer files were all 'encrypted' ; they all changed , even pictures , videos, etc etc.... all modified, and there were messages left in my files , saying ' this computer was hacked by such virus. please pay a ransom on this link to get your files back '


    basically, all the files were encrypted using a special 'key' and the only was for me to deal to get my files back was to pay them a ransom...


    i had to clear my hard drive, and start over....


    download windows again and all that
      February 19, 2017 6:18 AM MST
    1

  • Veryu nasty.. I hope you had your files backed up somewhere.
      February 19, 2017 6:31 AM MST
    1

  • 3719
    The attack on Tropicalclock's computer is a type called "ransomware", and it has proliferated because the hackers have found it very profitable.

    I was caught out once, by one of these pseudo "Registry Error" messages by which the cheats have you open a diagnostic routine most users probably don't know exists (I didn't), persuade you the many tens of "errors" it lists among thousands of processing steps mean your PC is about to crash, but if you subscribe to their special software... Even if the resulting remote control and bank details don't lead to theft as such, they are still raking in money for something that does nothing useful even if it exists. Luckily I was able to wrest control back and cancel the payment.

    My security software seems pretty good, and if I suspect anything I close all applications and let it loose on a full scan. I protect my finances by limiting my on-line buying severely and mainly to specialist items unlikely to interest large-scale advertising-agencies, and refusing to use on-line banking.

    I protect my computer further still by refusing to use Facebook and Twitter, and by setting my e-post filter to a mid-range that prevents BTinternet sending my browsing records to advertisers. AT least, I hope it does as it claims, but BT keeps re-setting it to the fully-open default.

    These days most of the attack attempts I receive are phone calls alleging to be from my ISP, Microsoft or "The Windows Corporation" to whom my computer has reported "faults". I soon see them off - usually call them a liar and put the phone down. Sometimes I tell such callers I work for IT security... they hang up on me, double-quickly!  
      March 3, 2017 3:04 PM MST
    0