Ever wondered if your PC is secretly up to no good? it can happen; your trusty laptop might be part of a botnet, and you would not even know! So, what is a botnet?
Think of it like a giant team of infected computers working for a cybercriminal, kind of like evil minions. And your PC could get dragged in by clicking weird links or downloading dodgy files.
So how do you check? First, keep an eye out for weird stuff: is your internet super slow when you are not doing much?
Or, does your computer fan get noisy, like it’s running a marathon just to open a browser? that is a clue.
Sometimes, your friends might say they are getting strange emails from your account; that is another big red flag.
Here is what I do: I run a full antivirus scan and check my Task Manager (press Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for odd-looking programs using up lots of power.
If things look sketchy, I change all my passwords. And don’t forget to update Windows and your security software.
Staying alert and checking your PC is easier than you think, and it’s way better than the headache of fighting off a botnet later!