i think i just got hacked, does ne1 know of any trails that hackers leave

i have reason to believe that some information was hacked off my computer reasently. as well as other things i got the "task manager has been disabled buy your admin". i was able to fix this using the registry and i found a wierd program running in the background. i could never find where it was running from but it was a funny thing that flashed on and off quickly. i was able to capture its name in a screen shot but it said the programs name was z. are these signs of being hacked. if so id like to know some of the techniques used by hackers (no code please i dont want this to be a hackers 101) but just in general so i can try safeguard my computer a little better

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Originally Posted by *DEAD*

...so i can try safeguard my computer a little better

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Never connect to the internet directly, always go through a phisycal router/firewall. Have a software firewall, there are a lot of free ones. Get a Spyware program, Microsoft just came out with a free one for windows, go to microsoft.com. Also of course, the obvious one, get an AntiVirus...
And finally, don't download anything you see on the screen. Don't click on adds on web-pages. Get enough info from multiple web-sites about any program you want to download before you actually download it.

There are a lot of things you have to do to protect your computer (I do all of the things i just mentioned)

use google to search for the name of the program that you found. you are probably not the first one to be had by it.

so this program called "z" was running in the background? most hackers use trojans to get in they can be acquirred by excepting files form people with a virus attached to it or even from some websites... most of these websites are of pornographic nature or pretty much anything that is free (ex free mp3 download websites). your best bet is to do as said above and do not connect to the internet directly , another one is from time to time when on the internet run a netstat to see what is running on your ports and if there is anything that looks suspcious log off the net and delete it if possible. also get a software firewall as mentioned above ZoneAlarm pro is a very good one
and if on msn or such do not except files from people that just add you unless you know them.. but that is common sence

Whats netstat?

Just curious as once I have connected to the net for browsing and disconnect, the comp tries to reconnect, but the ctrl+alt+del listing of programs is none existant and only processes... No virus (scanned before).

Is netstat an additional program or in windoze?

netstat -a shows the current connections coming into your computer.

that sounds odd but not unheard of , there are many programs that can eather rename themselves as processes or hide themselves from the TaskManager (i've made plenty that do that for LAN montoring purposses) what virus scan do you use? and try using microtrend.com to scan your computer online some times it finds viruses that your computer virus scan wont find even thought its up to date

netstat is a command line command used through command prompt. (go to start, then run then type eather cmd or command.com (USED FOR WIN 95, 89 and ME) then type netstat