Hey everyone, I was recently invited to work on a MERN casino site project on Upwork. The client seemed legit with a rate of $40–$60 per hour, and they promptly provided a GitHub repository that I cloned to test. However, when I ran the project, my computer began freezing and slowing down significantly, so I decided to turn it off. Now, every time I boot up my PC, I notice two CMD windows pop up and disappear quickly. The repo only had one contributor named "phillip hamnett," and while the client has nine jobs posted, they have zero hires. I've removed the repo, but I'm still experiencing issues where my mouse jumps or gets stuck. Is it possible that this repo installed something malicious on my computer? I would appreciate any tips on how to check or clean my system properly. Thanks in advance; this whole situation has got me feeling a bit paranoid.
1 Answer
You should definitely run a few antivirus scans, just to be sure. I recommend trying different software if you can. Additionally, check out Microsoft’s Autoruns tool—it's great for spotting any suspicious startup items, services, or tasks. Look for anything that seems unusual, especially things related to Users/App data.
I also used Process Explorer and found something weird with ctfmon.exe showing up in the services. It shouldn’t be there, and when I tried to kill it, it just respawned. Keep an eye on that.