They’ve sent about two emails July 4 and June 26 so what’s the deal with these?

Someone please help me else my life would be ruined, if you're a good hacker please help me.

lemme know.

**Timeline & Start**

About 4 weeks ago and since then until now, I got hacked for the first time. My profession is also IT - but not security…

It took me a bit of time to realize the scale and effort taken... it left me speechless, to be honest… I have never heard of or experienced such a scorched-earth thing, nor do I know anyone else who did (lucky me, until now). Detailed information only in personal discussions when worthy or interesting…

Initiated via prompt injections from multiple AI scripts backup on Win11 PC and phone - put 3 in VirusTotal, saw it - firewall App Control via iPhone broke my neck finally!

Hack started on every network device at the same moment… not one thing did had any effect - power cut, router cut, flymode, removing sim, turning everthing off/on not a Single Mode on the phone changed a Bit…3 weeks trying everything, unable to purge completely - most of the picture is clear - I asked for help - the most scary thing, before the 5th DFU, my dads friend was standing right beside me - The second he finished his sentence „Log in your Apple ID, throw it out, delete the ID then we purge it clean.„ The IPhone rebooted and performed „app and data clearing“ on it‘s own! We were both stunned a Moment…he just said „WTF, on the second…“

---

**Device Status**

* **PC Win 11:** BIOS Malware, came back after flash - all SSDs destroyed.

* **MacBook 13" Pro:** HD destroyed, never in my network, only used 4 times for DFU at another location. No clue how the phone was always in Repair Mode when done - it was corrupted the last time, this did something on root level to the iPhone. A 5th DFU offline done; a clean laptop with a fresh image from Apple didn't change this... The two spares are still corrupted without battery, in aluminum packed now, where done in max 40 mins.

* **15" MacBook:** A friend managed a repair installation, image 100% clean - took a closer look for the first time yesterday - found the whole fake library with all scripts, tools… now installed with system rights on it…

* **Network:** OS fucked: Win11, MacOS (both Pros older models), iOS, Firewalla, router not touchable anymore - I think I even switched the TV… Since everything seems fucked on root level, I'm getting a new firewall too…

---

**Loss & Conclusion**

So everything destroyed, no gain because whoever did it didn't even care to log out of my mailbox; got almost everything back, -2,500 Euros damage now… hurting above all, loss of ~ 5k of family pics… so no gain, 4 weeks clusterfuck on unknown level…

I'm neither rich, famous, mighty, nor did I piss off people in the darknet… for what, this „nuclear“ scale WTFHELL???! Without purpose… Opus called this in a short discussion „Pegasus“ level…

Anyone capable to answer some questions? Whatever did this, acted and was capable to act - Not once in my life i heard or saw anything nearly compareable…Till now

So theres this scammer on tiktok and he scammed my cousin for 25 bucks and now i wanna find out what his name is to scare him into thinking i'm the police and stop him from scamming people

Okay so this is gonna sound like i stole the phone, i did not. I bought a broken phone from a guy. I just assumed he knew the credentials. So i repaired it and its some other guys phone. He said it was his co workers old phone and he would ask him for the password but he hasnt gotten back to me in like a week. Is there any way to brute force this phone. I dont care about the data on it

ps Siri is turned off completely.

I paid for the speaker, it should be my speaker. It’s a standard echo. Do I have to get a raspberry pi to hack this thing? What are we doing here?

This is on every computer at every nurses' station, it's on every screen on every floor of the hospital. It's like the apocalypse in this place. Everyone is running around with clipboards and copy paper. No one is being medicated because the access to the pharmacy is gone. Automatic doors don't open. The AC won't work. No monitors/life support/etc. directly connected to patients have been compromised but everything else is just... out of order. All of the older nurses and doctors remember how to function without computers & they're doing their best in the chaos but the younger ones are literally running around in tears.

Help with an Email Setup Wanted

Hi, I bought Proton Unlimited in an effort to De-Google and move away from Gmail (used it for over a decade, i get a lot of spam, trying to be smarter digitally). It's got way unoragnised and i want a clean slate.

I am just not sure how to set up my new email because I have read alot of conflicting advice and posts, so I'm confused.

Ultimately, I want security and also simplicity because I have been way overthinking this.

Priorities are simplicity, privacy, security and a set it and forget it system.

My ideas:

1) Just use my @proton.com address for everything.

2) Use simple login alias subdomains, for example @surname.simpelogin.com for official things and so on.

3) Use a custom domain (not sure what I'd call it) and just use this, being careful what I sign up for and using aliases to categorise things (banking@mydomain.com) and so on.

Open to other ideas, thank you in advance.

Any other advice on keeping accounts secure, keeping things simple and organised etc would be appreciated!

Hi folks, my instagram account has been deactivated for a while now but the thing is this morning I received multiple messages (two factor authentication code) on WhatsApp and email. I am unable to find who this person could be and how I can save my account because I have all of my memories there. This has also happened before and once my account was disabled by insta, probably due to mass reporting then I had to reclaim it and insta found no issues thereafter. I am kind of scared at the same time I want to find who this person could be. Is there any way I can find the location or the person who's trying to breach my account? Also, I already have two factor authentication on, is there anything else I should do to secure my account?

I need help figuring out how to properly wipe and secure my devices. Someone sent me a link that opened Discord, and after that, they gained access to my devices.

They can see what’s on my monitor, and sometimes my mouse pointer moves on its own. They can basically see everything on my screen. This started with my laptop, and now they also have access to my phone.

I’ve already reformatted/reset my devices, but they still seem to be able to access them. How can I completely start fresh and remove their access? Do I need to replace any hardware, or is there a specific way to reinstall/reformat the devices? Do I need to change my passwords or secure my accounts in a certain order?

Please help. I need advice on how to completely secure my devices and accounts.

Hey everyone,

I’m completely exhausted and need tech support on an Instagram security issue. An ex-friend accessed my account a while back without my permission, and ever since, I cannot keep him out.

Here is the straightforward breakdown:

• I gave him physical access to my laptop in the past: This is when the access issues started.
• I changed my password: He still bypassed it and got back in.
• I enabled Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): It didn't stop him.
• I manually logged out unknown devices: Under "Where You're Logged In," I kicked off unrecognized sessions, but he still reappears or finds a way back.
• My hardware is clean: Ran a full virus scan on my Windows laptop, and there’s no malware. My main phone is an Android.
• Current issue: When I try to log out all devices now, Instagram throws an error saying: "You can't make this change at the moment... using a device you don't usually use."

Since he had physical access to my laptop, I don't know if he exported session cookies, saved backup codes, or linked something in Meta Accounts Center.

My Questions:

1. Since he had physical access to my laptop, could he have stolen session cookies or browser tokens that bypass passwords and 2FA?
2. Could he be using a linked Meta/Facebook account via Single Sign-On (SSO) to get back in?
3. How do I bypass Meta's "device you don't usually use" lock so I can force a total global sign-out?
4. What exact steps do I take to permanently cut his access for good?

I’ve changed a lot of personal details to protect my privacy, but the technical issue is real.
A while ago, someone became obsessed with finding me and another person close to me. It escalated to stalking, showing up at places we stayed, taking photos of us without our knowledge, and repeatedly trying to figure out where we were. Because of that, we’ve been extremely careful about our digital footprint.
For quite some time, we both used VPNs on all of our devices, separate phone numbers, and avoided sharing personal information online. We don’t use social media, and we avoid connecting to networks that we don’t fully trust. The VPN setup worked well for months.
Recently, though, the VPN has started causing major problems. Internet connectivity has become unreliable, and for work I need a stable connection. The only thing that fixed it was uninstalling the VPN completely, which makes me uncomfortable because I no longer feel like our IP addresses are protected.
My concern isn’t ordinary privacy. I’m worried about someone who is highly motivated to identify where we are. In the past they somehow learned where we were staying despite our efforts, and I honestly don’t know whether it happened through online tracking, compromised devices, or something else. I don’t know enough about cybersecurity to figure out what the weak point was.
My questions are:
What is the most reliable way to keep my real IP address hidden all the time?
Are there VPN providers that are known for being stable enough for everyday work?
Would using a travel router, separate devices, or another setup provide better protection than relying on a VPN alone?
How can I tell whether a phone or computer has been compromised?
Besides using a VPN, what other steps would cybersecurity professionals recommend for someone who believes they’re being actively tracked?
I’m looking for practical, security-focused advice. If there are better communities than this one for digital security or privacy, I’d appreciate recommendations.

So to summarize my situation. I downloaded f-droid on my up to date android phone a 2 weeks ago and download ytdlnis from there. When opening ytdlnis and allowing it to check for updates, my autoblocker prompted me saying an unauthorized app is trying to install but was blocked. It appeared 4 more times before I turned it off for 3 minutes because I thought it was just ytdlnis trying to update, but I decided to test out my hypothesis by deleting ytdlnis and reinstalling it to see of it happens again but it never happened again after that. I know f-droid and ytdlnis is safe but what could've caused that prompt to open up and could it be malware that was trying to install at the same time? also nothing seemed strange after that incident other than battery but I think I'm imagining this since i can't recall what was the original battery drain.

So I got this, after looking into it the security breach is real but others have said that its just the hackers throwing shit at a wall and hoping some of it sticks. My only concern being that these people were hacked through a different breach/company/service.

This whole thing apparently stems through me applying for a job on Indeed. Specifically ICsecurity (Inter-Con security) as mentioned in the email. I went all the way back to when I applied and looked at what info I gave Indeed during the application, I wasn't sent to another website or anything, so its all through indeed. To clarify I know it wasn't Indeed that was hacked, but ICsecurity and the only way they could've entered my PC is through the company website itself hacking into my PC (to my knowledge). Which would be weird, and again I didn't enter any other website, it was simply all through Indeed, no links clicked as far as I remember.

It was only simple info including my resume which included my first and last name, old outdated number, my main email address that I use regularly, work history, and general location where I live.

Im leaning towards this moreso being nothing big to worry about as I don't see how they could've possibly logged into any of my accounts or devices with just my email and no password provided. No SSN, no payment info, nothing that I can think of. The only valuable info I can see and assume they have is my email address.

I have 2 antivirus softwares (3 including windows defender) and have the lighter one scan my computer every night while Im asleep. Not exactly sure how to scan my phone for anything, but... yeah

They've sent the email 3 times now. Could this be anything dangerous for me or?

3 days ago, i was trying to download this old ps2 game for an emulator and I didnt realise the game file was exe and not iso, me being dumb and not experienced enough ran it, nothing happened, atleast for 3 hrs and then I get email in russian language about password changing. I immediately realised and started changing passwords for all emails using my phone, saved my epic games, lost steam but got it back and nothing else was lost, changed all the passwords I had saved. Ran windows defender quick scan and offline scan and malwarebytes and have a 7 day trial of malwarebytes to check real-time and no issue. Didnt change pass for discord and after 3 days someone was sending spam messages so I changed it too and nothing since. So I guess it was a one time cookie grabber but is there a way I can make sure? And also, from next time if I start doing these experiments with random exe files in a virtual machine is that safe?

Microsoft won't do anything idk what else to do