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What can be done about 'Advanced Persistent Threat' infecting home system and network?

Anonymous
2024-10-31T11:28:49+00:00

I was hacked by a cybercriminal back in 2018. I was not aware at the time, and it only became apparent starting in 2020. After a series of attempts to mitigate the hack, it became clear to me that this was not a regular threat, and it resembles what has been referred online by many sources as 'Advanced Persistent Threat'. These kinds of threats are most often deployed by state-sponsored threat actors, or highly skilled individuals, and for whatever reason that could motivate them to do so.

I need advice and help with this threat that I am currently dealing with and have been dealing with for the past 6+ years. I've tried paid antivirus software, I've tried free antivirus software, multiple variations of them, included paid VPN, I also tried wiping my computer fully and perform a clean installation of Windows from USB, none of it has worked. This threat is able to infect into my home network and remains there for long periods of time while being very hidden and undetectable. It has the ability to spread to other devices within my network and does not matter which operating system other devices might be running on, whether if it's macOS, Windows, Linux, and even phones such as iPhones.

The main functionality of this threat is spying and monitoring. It allows the hacker to access the device screen, camera, microphone, and keystrokes. It can see all online activities, including personal messages, photos, private and personal information, and more. Furthermore, it also has the ability to read iMessages from iPhones it has infected. I have contacted law enforcement about this ongoing issue for the past years, and they have ignored my requests due to the nature of the crime. What's your suggestions? I tried purchasing new devices, but they get infected as well as soon as I connect to the Wi-Fi or network, so maybe I should get a new network and modem and router.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Security and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-11-04T10:19:49+00:00

    Hello, iLagOver9000, welcome to inquire in the Microsoft community.

    Thank you for your inquiry, but the attack you mentioned is not targeted at Windows; it is a comprehensive intrusion.

    Dealing with a comprehensive advanced persistent threat (APT) can indeed be very tricky. Here are some suggestions that may help you better handle this situation.

    If you suspect that your device is infected, the first thing to consider is disconnecting it from the network to prevent hackers from continuing to access your device. Note that since you mentioned this attack affects all devices on your network, you need to completely disconnect your network entry.

    Secondly, you should switch to a more reputable service provider. Since I am not sure which service provider you are using, I suggest you refer to the reputation of service providers, choose a safer one, and reconfigure your connections.

    Thirdly, such intrusions often leave backdoors in the devices after they succeed. If possible, you can initialize the firmware of these devices in an offline environment or reflash them with new firmware.

    Fourth, you can add a hardware firewall between your network and router, ensuring that it is clean. Hardware firewalls are generally effective in preventing unauthorized access.

    After completing these efforts, unless you are a primary target, you should no longer be troubled by such issues.

    In any case, I look forward to your problem being resolved soon.

    I hope the above information can help you.

    Lugoo Bei | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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