My pc might be infected with virus on a hardware level

[iraqownz]

Hello there

Lately i have been noticing a lot of strange things on my computer. Keyboard typing automatically, or notifications pops up randomly. I believe my computer is infected with some kind of virus that normal AV cant even detect. I have been doing a clean install of windows multiple times but that didn't help.

Reason for my concern: I have acted in public in a really bad manner, and that got some people to really notice me to the extend that they would bully me in every way possible. So i have reason to believe that the interest in me in at such a level that they would even target me with a virus that is undetectable. It might be a hardware level virus, or just my internet provider that is also involved.

I am really asking for your help to take the steps necessary and clear that virus of my computer.

Thanks in advance

 

[E-Bear]

In that case it could be a malware not a virus. Download MalwareBytes. After installing it unplug from internet and launch a full scan.

 

[delshay]

I never, never open any Email if I don't know who it's from.

 

[ste2425]

You say you already re-installed Windows and still the behaviour is the same. Was that an entire drive re-format and reinstall?

What actions did you perform after the fresh install that lead up to this behaviour returning?

Your probably doing something that is re-infecting your machine. That or you have external media which is still compromised re-infecting your machine.

 

[Splinterdog]

You need to supply more information such as what media you're using to install Windows, is the hard drive partitioned and do you have access to another HDD?
Are you restoring backed up data to the PC after the clean install?
I would start again but in isolation and make sure the PC is NOT connected to the net during and after to see if the symptoms persist.

 

[Yukikaze]

You seem to assume a few things here:
1) You are targeted specifically.
2) You are targeted by individuals that are capable of pulling off a low-level, persistent attack against a very specific target.
3) You are being attacked repeatedly.

This means that you are a very high profile target, with much value. Or have some very bored, yet very capable attackers. Neither is terribly likely for most people.

In short, you are probably just re-infecting yourself when you're trying to reinstall, rather than being attacked by l33t h4ck3rs.

How exactly are you trying to reinstall your system? What installation media are you using? Which machine are you downloading it on? Are you copying any data back to your system? Where from? etc.

Sane answers aside: If you are 100% certain you are actually being repeatedly targeted by extremely proficient attackers and your machine is compromised to the level you suggest, the sane course of action is to discard it altogether, then change the behavior which led to your infection, including changing the passwords on every single account you own (or even discarding these accounts and starting anew). Someone capable of doing an attack thus targeted will likely be able to target you again if they know how to find you, and malware located below the OS level is all but impossible to defeat as an end user. There are many locations (read: many firmware entities) for it to hide on a system, and very few tools (if at all) to help an end user to detect and remove it.

 

[64K]

I don't know if this is helpful but one time my cursor started moving around the screen by itself and I knew immediately what that was because a couple of times the IT dept at work remoted in on my PC to do some things so I went to task manager and sure enough someone somehow had remoted in. I logged them out and it never happened again.

I don't know anything about this but is it possible that they are going through his router? Would changing the password help any on that?

 

[er557]

@OP:
you are being paranoid, those things are very unlikely, even if they did a keylogger, you would not have noticed it at all

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Likely someone has a remote connection, go into windows settings type 'remote' in the search box (upper left) and goto 'Remote Desktop'. Move the 'Enable Remote Desktop' slider to off position. If you know how to use User Accounts, you can limit access there too.

EDIT: goto control panel > system > click 'Remote Settings' > uncheck 'Allow Remote Assistance connections AND in thte lower field check 'Don't allow remote connections to this computer ( round button )

 

[theonek]

yeah, he is working probably in a secret government agnecy or nasa, that's why the hackers interest is so big to him.... i know that 1st of april is coming but this is a BS!

 

[er557]

just a thought, my laptop's keyboard connector ribbon was contaminated, causing auto typing , hitting enter, and subsequent error messages!

 

[Bill_Bright]

What version of Windows? Is it fully updated? What security software? Is it updated?

For the record, these days, a virus is a specific type of malware. That is, malware (malicious software) is just a general term for all sorts of malicious software, to include, but not limited to spyware, Trojans, worms, Ransomware, and viruses. A simple 10 second Bing Google search illustrates this (types of malware).

A virus is malware but a piece of malware may not be a virus.

Consider it like "vehicle" and "cars". A car is a vehicle but a vehicle may not be a car. A vehicle is a general term for a machine that transports people and goods. While a "car" is a type of vehicle used primarily to transport people, it is just one type of vehicle. A boat is also a vehicle, but certainly not a car. Same can be said for an airplane. They are all types of vehicles just as a virus is a type of malware.

Notifications popping up could just be innocent "Push" notifications. Many sites use Push notifications these days but without knowing what they say, we cannot tell if innocent or malicious.

The keyboard typing by itself sure would raise the hair on my neck - especially if late at night (I live in an old house with a checkered history!). Is it typing words and sentences? Or just a string of letters? If a string of letters, it could be a weak (or cookie crumb invested) return spring under a key. Try another keyboard.

@OP:
you are being paranoid,

Come on! Witnessing keyboard and popup activity is NOT being paranoid. There is nothing to suggest he imagined this activity. Even attracting the attention of others is NOT being paranoid if that happens after you "acted in public in a really bad manner."

However, just because someone acts in are really bad manner in public, that does not suggest their computer can easily be hacked by others who may have seen that bad behavior. Sure, public "hot spots" can be dangerous places, but it really does not take a lot to protect your computer in those places either.

 

[er557]

having done a clean install, suggests either an infected install disk itself or another hardware problem, certainly unfeasible as a "hardware virus", those are hard to come by, rarely seen, and takes very advanced tools so as to infect a bios and even more so to target someone remotely, without physical access to his machine. However, the advice to ditch this system and start fresh with new passwords is a sound one.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I agree completely that physical access to that machine would most likely be needed in this scenario. And we can only hope the OP did not walk away and leave the computer unattended in this public place. So while that is unlikely, the use of very weak (or no) passwords may come into play as well.

I also would not assume what the user means by a "clean" install is really what I would consider a "clean" install. To me, a "clean" install typically means from an original Microsoft Windows installation disk, or from an image disk that I made immediately after I built the brand new machine using an original Microsoft Windows installation disk!

If this "clean" install involved using a personally made image disk from a less than brand new OS install, I am not going to assume malware is not included in that image.

But since the OP has not returned since his opening post, the best we can do is speculate. And that serves no purpose.

 

[Solaris17]

If someone infected you with a hardware virus.

1: odds are you're not nearly as important as you think since this is generally saved for state attacks against other state entities not people that disagree with governments on social media.

2: You wouldn't see things being typed on the screen. That just not how these types of infections work at all.

Format your machine, replace your keyboard.

Dont immediately torrent things after your format and see if it happens again.

 

[iraqownz]

I am using an usb called Verbatim to install windows on my machine.

The build is:

Amd radeon 570 - Graphics card
Amd ryzen 5 2600 -Cpu
samsung 970 EVO plus NVME - SSD
Corsair LPX vengeance 2x8gb - Ram
Gigabyte B450m DS3H - Motherboard
Logitech G502 Hero - Mouse

Just to clarify i was having problems with my motherboard when i first got it. That resulted me taking the entire computer to a technician so that he can fix it. He later told me that it was the motherboards fault, so i had to get a new one.

I did not reformat the the hard drive after installation, so that might also be a factor.

What version of Windows? Is it fully updated? What security software? Is it updated?

For the record, these days, a virus is a specific type of malware. That is, malware (malicious software) is just a general term for all sorts of malicious software, to include, but not limited to spyware, Trojans, worms, Ransomware, and viruses. A simple 10 second Bing Google search illustrates this (types of malware).

A virus is malware but a piece of malware may not be a virus.

Consider it like "vehicle" and "cars". A car is a vehicle but a vehicle may not be a car. A vehicle is a general term for a machine that transports people and goods. While a "car" is a type of vehicle used primarily to transport people, it is just one type of vehicle. A boat is also a vehicle, but certainly not a car. Same can be said for an airplane. They are all types of vehicles just as a virus is a type of malware.

Notifications popping up could just be innocent "Push" notifications. Many sites use Push notifications these days but without knowing what they say, we cannot tell if innocent or malicious.

The keyboard typing by itself sure would raise the hair on my neck - especially if late at night (I live in an old house with a checkered history!). Is it typing words and sentences? Or just a string of letters? If a string of letters, it could be a weak (or cookie crumb invested) return spring under a key. Try another keyboard.
Come on! Witnessing keyboard and popup activity is NOT being paranoid. There is nothing to suggest he imagined this activity. Even attracting the attention of others is NOT being paranoid if that happens after you "acted in public in a really bad manner."

However, just because someone acts in are really bad manner in public, that does not suggest their computer can easily be hacked by others who may have seen that bad behavior. Sure, public "hot spots" can be dangerous places, but it really does not take a lot to protect your computer in those places either.

The keyboard just types strings of letters. But it would happen occasionally. I did change keyboard to see if it persist, and sadly it does.

 

[Vya Domus]

I did not reformat the the hard drive after installation, so that might also be a factor.

Get one of those programs on a USB stick that can reformat drives without booting into an OS (I can't name one specifically but just google it you'll find something) and format the drive for real. By that I mean the full formatting that wipes everything and takes a couple of hours.

If this doesn't solve your problem it either means that you always install something that carries the malware or you're screwed beyond repair unfortunately.

 

[Fangio1951]

I am using an usb called Verbatim to install windows on my machine.

The build is:

Amd radeon 570 - Graphics card
Amd ryzen 5 2600 -Cpu
samsung 970 EVO plus NVME - SSD
Corsair LPX vengeance 2x8gb - Ram
Gigabyte B450m DS3H - Motherboard
Logitech G502 Hero - Mouse

Just to clarify i was having problems with my motherboard when i first got it. That resulted me taking the entire computer to a technician so that he can fix it. He later told me that it was the motherboards fault, so i had to get a new one.

I did not reformat the the hard drive after installation, so that might also be a factor.



The keyboard just types strings of letters. But it would happen occasionally. I did change keyboard to see if it persist, and sadly it does.

==================
hi,

Is the EVO 970 the only drive in the pc ??
Is it the only partition = C ??
Are there any other internal HDD's ??
Is to OS and all other software/programs installed on the C: drive ??

regards

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Get one of those programs on a USB stick that can reformat drives without booting into an OS (I can't name one specifically but just google it you'll find something) and format the drive for real. By that I mean the full formatting that wipes everything and takes a couple of hours.

If this doesn't solve your problem it either means that you always install something that carries the malware or you're screwed beyond repair unfortunately.

Wouldnt you try another install usb made on someone else safe pc too?

 

[Vayra86]

14 days of quarantine is the only way. Avoid all PC contact with other people. Stay inside.

 

[iraqownz]

==================
hi,

Is the EVO 970 the only drive in the pc ??
Is it the only partition = C ??
Are there any other internal HDD's ??
Is to OS and all other software/programs installed on the C: drive ??

regards

The evo is the only drive on the pc
The os is stored in the c drive
when i visit disk management i see 3 partitions
1 : c:
2 : disk 0 partition 2
3 : Recovery

 

[iraqownz]

Anyone can recommend something here? what should i do?

 

[A.Stables]

Anyone can recommend something here? what should i do?

Only when installing windows* delete the partition 1 2 (and 3 if you really need to) the select the raw, then next in windows setup if you need to make sure remove all previous data is erased. *edit

also where did you get windows install media from?

 

[sepheronx]

a lot of people here are useless and just being rude for the sake of it.

Anyway, quick help I can give is since you didn't reformat the drive before installing windows, you need to do that. With the USB stick its best to wipe it clean and use the media creation tool you can get from the Microsoft page for Windows 10

Download Windows 10

then boot via USB in the bios to the Windows 10 USB stick

Then you will need to manage the partitions. In this case, delete all of them, then create them again and install on the new partition.

It should work. Installing windows on an already installed partition causes more problems then not and wouldn't have solved your issue.

 

[A.Stables]

a lot of people here are useless and just being rude for the sake of it.

Anyway, quick help I can give is since you didn't reformat the drive before installing windows, you need to do that. With the USB stick its best to wipe it clean and use the media creation tool you can get from the Microsoft page for Windows 10

Download Windows 10

then boot via USB in the bios to the Windows 10 USB stick

Then you will need to manage the partitions. In this case, delete all of them, then create them again and install on the new partition.

It should work. Installing windows on an already installed partition causes more problems then not and wouldn't have solved your issue.

Aye / but i wouldn't do that on the infected machine ;