Most people do not realize is that unless they are consistently running security checks and updating their firewalls and security systems, they are at risk of someone accessing their private information. Companies regularly hire hackers to test their security for them.  There is no way to know if a computer is safe with one look. If you don’t test your security, you might have been at risk of having a wrong setting active or unpatched flaws / viruses and you might never know it. It takes several steps or even software to determine if the computer is secure. However, there is a definite way to answer whether the computer is safe or not through a set of questions and software.  Companies regularly hire hackers to test their security for them. Fortunately, you can do it yourself for free. These are ways hackers go about downloading viruses and scams onto your PC so that anytime they would want to, they can go and access any information you have on your PC, including any saved passwords and websites you might frequently visit. One way you could also figure out if your computer has any viruses or programs that should not be there is to recall any websites you may have gone onto that could have been on the fishier side or got a pop up about your computer being at risk and clicked on it. Software like Norton would notify its user if there were an attack on the user’s computer. They check each file and track incoming and outgoing traffic. It’s usually the hash and the file’s code to determine if the file is malicious. Known attack hash and signatures are kept in a database and compared to the user’s file hash or code and decide whether it’s harmful. In doing so, the software can prevent attacks on the user’s computer. In doing so, they are checking if a known attack will happen. Most of the attacks have signatures on them. A file containing an exploit would be read but not executed. The firewall keeps your computer from being seen and targeted online, and even if they do find your computer, the firewall helps to repel any attempts they could make to access it.