I recently fell victim to a hacking incident after downloading what I thought was a legitimate indie game sent by a friend. Unfortunately, I ended up with a DLL error, and shortly after that, the hacker gained access to my computer. They spammed my Discord account with threats for money and sent me screenshots of my files and even my tablet screen to prove they had hacked me. I turned my PC off immediately, changed my important passwords, and reported the incident, but I'm still worried about the security of both my PC and my tablet. I know I should factory reset my PC, but I'm concerned the hacker might still have access to my tablet too. What steps should I take to ensure I'm safe, back up important files, and fully clean my devices?
2 Answers
First of all, you should definitely run an antimalware tool on both devices. It might be worth taking your PC to a professional security expert if you feel overwhelmed. And yes, reporting this as a cybercrime is important!
If the hacker asked for money, it might be because they couldn't find anything valuable—but it's best to play it safe. Start by canceling any credit cards you used online and contacting your bank. After that, do a full Windows reinstall using a USB stick. Make sure to wipe everything during the process by deleting all partitions. For your tablet, if there's nothing important on it, perform a factory reset.
Just keep in mind your friend might not be the attacker; they could have been a victim too!