Will replacing my hard drive erase the chances of a hacker having access

[Coco456]

to my laptop?

Okay, long story short. I got a virus last year (my fault) and you guys helped me clean up my pc, but I've been too afraid to save anything to my laptop.

Nothing weird has happened since then, so I guess this is mainly for my peace of mind.

Anyway, I really started to freak out because at one point the hacker was able to access my amazon account, even though I have 2 factor authentication on (this was when I was in the process of cleaning my laptop). I think he either spoofed my laptop (I had my pw saved to chrome and didn't require 2 factor on familiar devices) or used a remote device. So, if he decided to f with me again one day, would he be able to do anything if I have a new hard drive? Even if he still has all of my info that he used to spoof my laptop?

 

[David H. Lipman]

The simple answer -- No.

I'll compare it to having a bully in your neighbourhood.  You write poetry, sonnets and stories in notebooks.  That bully has gotten a hold of some of your writings.  Replacing the notebooks with new ones won't mitigate the issue.  You'd have to change your habits of how you store and move those notebooks around as well as any/all interactions with that bully.

In your case understanding mitigating cyber threats and how you interact with technology is the key to your solution.  It begins with understanding what is a computer "virus" is and how it compares and is differentiated with trojans as well as Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) and how one gets infected.  It will continue by understanding threats and having Situational awareness as well as understanding what constitutes "vulnerabilities" and exploitation of those vulnerabilities.

In other words, the key to mitigating your problem is within you and not by simply changing hardware.