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Your CD-ROM drawer
opens and closes by itself
Many Trojans have the ability to open and close your
CD-ROM drawer. Two of the most popular Trojans that
allow this command are the Netbus and SubSeven
Trojans.
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Your computer screen
flips upside down or inverts
When you are infected with a Trojan, hackers can make
your computer screen blink, flip upside down or invert
it so that everything is displayed backwards.
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Your wall paper
or background settings change by themselves
The non-stealth type of hacker may change your default
background or wall paper settings. Many times this will
be done by using a picture found on your computer or
one uploaded by the hacker.
-
Documents or messages
print on your printer by themselves
Since the hacker has total access to your computer,
he can access your printer and print personal messages
to you or print documents found in your folders.
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Your computer browser
goes to a strange or unknown web page by itself
Trojans allow the hacker to launch your web browser
and go to any web page that they preselected.
-
Your windows color
settings change by themselves
When infected, the trojan allows the hacker to change
your Windows color settings to any colors of their choice.
-
Your screen saver
settings change by themselves
Often, the non-stealth hacker will set your screen saver
with a personal scrolling message to you.
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Your right and
left mouse buttons reverse their functions
Often, the hacker makes your mouse buttons switch around.
The right click now does what the left click did and
the left click takes on the functions that the right
click used to have.
-
Your mouse pointer
disappears
Sometimes the hacker will completely turn off your mouse.
When this is done, your mouse pointing arrow completely
disappears.
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Your mouse moves
by itself
The hacker can take control of your mouse pointer and
click on icons and start programs as if he were sitting
in your chair in front of your computer.
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Your mouse starts
leaving trails
The hacker can change your mouse configuration to make
it leave mouse trails as you move it.
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Your computer plays
recordings of things recorded in your computer room
If you have a microphone connected to your computer,
the hacker can record and listen to what is going on
in the room. Sometimes the non-stealth hacker will play
the sound file back when he knows you are in the room.
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Your sound volume
changes by itself
Sometimes the hacker will turn your sound volume all
the way up or down to attract your attention.
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Your Windows Start
button disappears
Once infected, the hacker can make your Windows start
button hidden from your view.
-
Programs load or
unload by themselves
Hackers can kill or startup programs on your computer.
Many times your anti virus is unloaded and then parts
of it are altered or deleted.
-
Your computer starts
talking or conversing with you
Some Trojans allow the hacker to type anything that
he wants to say to you in a box and then make it appear
that your computer is talking to you. Many times this
feature is used along with the web cam and sound option
so that the hacker can see and hear you as he converses.
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Your computer starts
reading the contents of your computer clipboard
The hacker can make your computer speak the text contained
in your clipboard and insert new text into your windows
clipboard.
-
Strange chat boxes
appear on your computer and you are forced to chat with
some stranger
The trojan will allow the hacker to bring up a square
black chat box at which time you can not do anything
else but type into this box. The hacker may talk back
to you, or just leave this box up to block you from
accessing your computer programs while he undermines
what you are doing.
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Strange Windows
Warning, Info, error, or question boxes appear on your
computer
Your computer generates strange warning or question
boxes. Many times these are personal messages directed
directly to you and asking you a question with Yes or
No or Ok buttons for you to click.
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You get complaints
from your ISP that your computer is IP scanning
The hacker can use your computer to attack, send email
or scan for other infected computers. You could then
even get an email from your Internet service provider
warning you that your account will be terminated if
the activity continues.
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People that you
are chatting with know too much personal information
about you or your computer
Hackers can find personal information about you by reading
documents on your computer such as a resume, financial
records, personal letters, etc. The hacker while talking
to you might inform you that he knows your address,
phone number, children's names, or other information
to try to either gain your respect or scare you in some
way. This non-stealth type of hacker is more likely
to cause you some kind of damage when he is finished
having his fun with you. Be sure to get your copy of
LockDown and change all of your passwords, to deny him
future access to your computer.
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Other people can
read your private IRC or ICQ messages
While your computer is infected with a Trojan, the hacker
can not only see everything that you type, but every
message sent to you via programs such as ICQ, IRC, AIM
and yahoo pager. If someone that you are talking to
seems to know what others are talking to you about in
private while using one of the chat programs above you
may have been infected.
-
People that you
are talking to can see you or know what is inside your
computer room
If you have a webcam, the hacker can turn it on without
your knowledge and watch you as well as see things in
the background of the webcam.
-
Your time and date
change on your computer by itself
The hacker can change the time and date on your computer.
Often this is done it is to catch your attention and
changed to the extreme. You can then expect the hacker
to ask you what time or date it is on your computer.
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Your computer speaker
starts and stops working by itself
The hacker can turn your PC speaker on and off.
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Your computer shuts
down by itself
The hacker can cause your computer to shutdown if you
are infected by an Internet Trojan.
-
Your computer shuts
down and powers off by itself
Once infected, the hacker can make your computer turn
itself off.
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Your Task bar disappears
The hacker can hide your taskbar from your view.
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Your account passwords
are changed or others can access your accounts
Sometimes your accounts might tell you that it was accessed
last on a date other than a time that you know you had
accessed it, or even be denying you access indicating
that someone is currently using the account without
your permission. Other services like ICQ, AIM or others
are also taken over completely not allowing you to use
them any more.
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You have strange
purchases that you never made on your credit card statement.
The hacker can have your computer save your credit card
number to a file when it is used or typed on your computer
keyboard. When the hacker uses your credit card, it
will often reflect online computer related charges for
services or programs that you have never purchased.
-
Your computer monitor
turns itself off and on
The hacker can turn your monitor off and on if there
is any program that he wants to run and make sure you
won't be watching.
-
Your modem dials
and connects to the Internet by itself
The hacker can have your computer dialup and connect
to the Internet at times when he knows that you are
not at home or sleeping and then connect to it.
-
Your modem or hard
disk lights flash you are not using your computer
At times when you are not using your computer, the hacker
can be running programs or accessing the Internet which
will cause these symptoms.
-
Your computer reboots
by itself
Sometimes the hacker will copy programs or files into
your computer that will require a reboot to complete
the process. The hacker may also reboot your computer
when needed.
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Your files are
in use when you are not accessing them.
When you have files in use, the icon for the file turns
transparent which is an indication that you can't run
the file. If a hacker is viewing the file, it will change
in this way. Another indication is a temp file, for
a particular document in the folder that you are viewing.
After the hacker exits accesses to the file, the temp
file will disappear which sometimes will also cause
your Windows explorer to flinch while it refreshes the
folders.
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Your keyboard or
mouse freezes
The hacker can freeze your keyboard or mouse if he thinks
that you are going to do something that will catch on
to him. This could be to run some antihacker software
or to simply go into a folder that he is accessing.
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Ctrl + Alt + Del
stops working
The hacker or Trojan may disable this function so that
you can not view your task list or be able to end the
task on a given program or process.
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When you reboot
your computer you get a message telling you that there
are other users still connected
If you get a message when you reboot telling you that
other users are still connected, it means that you have
open file shares and someone is accessing your files.
You need to put a password on your drives and shares
or stop sharing files. You can purchase
LockDown to monitor
and block this activity.
