How To Find If Your Computer Is Secretly Connecting To The Internet
Many programs on your computer might be connecting to the Internet secretly, unbeknownst to you and sending your information to various websites. Sometimes such programs download themselves while you are surfing the Internet and sometimes you install them knowing or unknowingly. They not only pose a great security risk to your data and software they also needlessly slow down your computer and surfing. You can do the following to find out what all programs are connecting to the Internet without your knowledge:
- Go to Start -> Run and execute the CMD command; this should bring up the DOS prompt window.
- Switch to the root directory by using the CD \ command (so that you can find the resultant log file easily).
- Once there, type "netstat -b 5 > results.txt" (without quotes) and hit Enter
- Let the command do its stuff for a couple of minutes. You’ll know the command is working when the cursor comes down but there is no C prompt (or whatever prompt you have on your computer).
- Press CTRL+C
- Go to your root folder and open results.txt using any text editor
Source: Is Your Computer Connecting To Websites Without Your Knowledge.
If you see the comments section of the above mentioned link you’ll find some issues with certain operating systems and how people have resolved them. The steps that I’ve mentioned above worked on my laptop running on Windows XP Professional Server Pack 2.
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