8 Signs of a Computer Security Incident

What is a security incident?

A security incident is a breach of sensitive and confidential information stored in a computer system. Following are the signs of security incident.

Signs of a security incident

1. Unusual behavior from privileged user accounts

Any unusual behavior of a privileged user account like sending information to another location through the mail, login into the account during non-official hours, frequent login in accounts, etc might be a sign of a security incident.

2. Unauthorized insiders trying to access servers and data

Insiders like employees of the company, former employees, etc attempt to access the server and data stored in it. The signs can be requesting access to data that is not related to their jobs, logging in at abnormal times, etc might be some signs of a security incident.

3. Irregular behavior in outgoing traffic

Traffic that is leaving the servers abnormally can be a sign of a security incident. This could include uploading large files to the personal cloud, downloading large files, sending emails to unknown locations, etc are some signs of Irregular behavior in outgoing traffic.

4. Changes in System Configuration

Changes that haven't been approved like a reconfiguration of services, installation of start-up programs, and firewall changes are signs of malicious activity.

5. Abnormal browsing behavior

Abnormal browsing behavior like unexpected redirects, changes in the browser configuration, repeated pop-ups, etc can be signs of a computer security incident.

6. Excess bandwidth consumption

An increase in Internet bandwidth consumption by the servers might be an indication that the attacker is accessing it illegally and sharing the information with outside locations.

7. System crashes and Restart on its own

The frequent restart of the computer and then crash and then again restart might be an indication of a "remote code execution" or "DLL injection" attack. In this, the attack remotely sends the command to the operating system and allows it to behave in this manner.

8. Frequent Pop-up ads

This might be an indication of malware on your computer system. Malware is a type of software that is installed onto your device without your knowledge and can cause problems like pop-up ads, among other issues.

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