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Community weekly poll: Has your home computer ever been hacked?
- 6/1/05 1:58 PM
never hacked
by Flirkann - 6/3/05 6:59 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Haven't been hacked, always had a firewall active. Though I have had a few nuisance encounters with trojans thanks to my younger siblings.
I was hacked once.
by elegna - 6/3/05 7:06 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Years ago, I began to receive e-mail from people I didn't know but appeared to know me. They made references to discussions we had on chat boards. I was not on any chat board. I also had problems signing on to my ISP. I received messages I was already logged on.
I contacted my ISP and was told my computed was hacked.
They were able to track down the individual and charges were laid. Fortunately, the hacker only used my computer for free internet access.
That same day, I got a firewall and never had a problem since.
Never been hacked...
by jquin1he - 6/3/05 7:14 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
When I first got a computer 5 years ago, I got a nasty virus, and as a computer newbie, I literally cried.
But being a grandmother new to the world of computers, I didn't allow this to best me. I ended up paying to have my HD reformatted and the OS reinstalled.......then I got McAfee virus scan and firewall....sure it cost a few bucks, but well worth it. I have since become very proficient with fixing computers and actually do it on the side for a few extra $, and the majority of PC's I fix are self inflicted wounds, no firewalls, no virus protection, and no idea about what types of files are risky to download.
I have five home computers on a wireless network and have never had to worry about being compromised. All my friends come in with their laptops and use my network.........I suggest at the very least that if money is an issue that Windows Firewall be enabled.
Jquin1he.....San Diego
No ! Never has been hacked, but they have tried !
by 4jackie40d - 6/3/05 7:19 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I Use Sygate Pro cost me like $55.00 for it and 2 years of help and upgrades but its worth it ! I get a littl popup window and a sound ( beep ) when some one tries to hack my computer Plus I do a back trace on them and report them and if I do not get a reply I go after them my self . . Wrong thing to do is to try hacking a hackers computer . . I highly recommend SYGATE PRO for a firewall
Hackers.
by randarac - 6/3/05 7:57 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes, my computer was hack once.
Somebody copy an email and sent it to other people whose names where in it. Nothing serious but was done.
RandaraC
Not Hacked?
by LSWIGER - 6/3/05 8:27 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It has worked fine for several years. If it was hacked I never knew it and didn't care. There is nothing that isn't backed up on removable media and I have reloaded my software with a clean load on each upgrade (fdisk, format, etc.) I also have virus software and spyware detection , I hate spam---just thought I'd throw that in 
I found a keylogger once
by lucy78green - 6/3/05 9:15 AM In reply to: Not Hacked? by LSWIGERI found a keylogger once on my system, but I don't think that it had been there for long and as I run Ad-aware and Spybot on a regular basis I caught it pretty quickly. I also run Norton Anti-virus and I usually use Netscape. For a firewall I use Zone Alarm which I prefer to Windows built in Firewall (and it's also free). I was looking into the logs recently and I don't really understand the data but since I last updated it, it has blocked 151 high-rated threats. However, I suspect that it may also be blocking genuine programmes and updates, although I don't get a pop-up for it as a lot of the blocked ISPs appear to be from my service provider - if I understood the data it was giving me I might be able to configure the system more efficiently!
Hacked Many Times
by Solomonone - 6/3/05 9:51 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi,
I have a friend who (at my request), tries to hack my computers to see how good my security is. He does, I make the improvements. Now I am hackproof. (plus we have a $100.00 bet)
Firewalls are a false sense of security
by Gatestorm - 6/3/05 10:09 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Many of the people responding to this thread believe that once you have a firewall you are safe because it tells you of all the attempts made on your system. But what these are really telling you is who got caught, and generally all that gets caught are automated programs randomly testing various ways to access anything available. You may very well feel protected by having a firewall, but a common misconception is that if you put a wall up between you and the net you are safe. Too many people believe that the internet is just one access point into your computer when the truth is that there are literally over 65,000 of ways in. Broadband connections that have permanent/semi-permanent ip addresses are the worst for allowing access because it gives potential hackers the time to bombard your system looking for a way in. A tip that I tell people is to disconnect your broadband when not in use. Software firewalls are great up to a certain degree however if the attack is beginning from inside your system it could essentially bypass and/or disable the firewall from detecting it. I recommend using both an external hardware firewall and a software firewall. And never use more than 1 software firewall on a system as they can easily and dangerously cause conflicts with each other leaving you essentially unprotected. I personally disable the Windows firewall as because of all of the security issues with even XP SP2 the windows firewall is basically a false sense of security. A properly configured software firewall will do the most in protecting you from external attacks while the hardware firewall can help to block those threats coming from your own system.
Also by allowing your system to respond to pings, which by the way is enabled on most systems, you are telling potential attackers that yes this is a valid IP to try to get access to. Would you say hello to the hitman that just rang your doorbell?
AV software is another key component, but be aware that even the software you bought today is not up to date. You must and I mean must update your AV software immediately after installing it. And I update on a twice daily schedual to catch even the most recent virus definitions, but at the very least I recommend to update atleast once or twice a week. With hundreds to thousands of new viruses and threats every week not even the most up to date AV software can catch everything. And as with firewall software, don't have more than 1 AV program installed.
Any time we surf the web, are playing an online game, download an mp3 or program, or whatever else you do online you are opening access ports to your computer which allows information to be transferred both in and out of your system. What makes you think that a blue haired woman using ebay for the first time typing at a blazing 5 words a minute can stop a greasy haired, trouble making, just out of puberty, not aware there is life outdoors hacker just by using off the shelf, preconfigured firewall and AV software protection?
If you want to truly protect your system from all threats then don't connect to the internet and don't install any programs. Linux and Mac's are not immune either, it's just that most attacks are targeted towards the most widely distributed OS.
To recap:
Install both a hardware and software firewall, but only 1 software.
Install and update only 1 anti-virus program.
Once installed run the AV software twice through full scans, then use an online AV scan from a trusted source, then rerun your installed AV software. By running it twice to start it can detect malicious software that has been wiped out by the AV scan but has the ability to replicate itself and go right back to what it was doing before the scan. By doing an online scan you can detect those pieces of code that turn you AV software off or become invisible to your AV software. Make sure you follow the instructions for removal of anything unacceptable you find. The final scan is to be sure everything is clear.
Turn off the ping response for your computer.
Unplug your broadband when not in use.
Some tips not mentioned above are
Encrypt your WiFi equipment, use the WEP or WPA keys otherwise you are leaving a door not just unlocked, but wide open allowing anyone within signal strength to hijack you connection and even to access your system(s).
In windows explorer disable the hide known file extentions. (Tools-Folder Options-View) By doing this you can see dangerous files like those listed like example.txt.vbs or like sample.doc .pif (yes spaces are used to try to hide/mask extentions.)
I recommend to use Firefox as a web browser, although not perfect it is far more secure than even the most up to date patched version of IE. Don't uninstall IE though as you may need it to access some content not available for Firefox. Although more of the better designers are learning that almost 1/3 of the surfers are now using Firefox and are using better/different code to work on all browsers. Such as avoiding ActiveX as much as possible.
My favorite software for protection is Panda Platinum Internet Security 2005 it includes AV, Firewall, AntiSpam, AntiPhishing, AntiSpyware, Content Control and more. Although again not perfect it is the one I recommend to my clients.
Test your system at
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym
http://www.pcpitstop.com/
http://www.pandasoftware.com/
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://www.firewallguide.com/test.htm to find a list of trusted sites to check your vulnerability.
Firewalls are not your only line of defence when it come to preventing hackers, run the scans especially those listed at http://www.firewallguide.com/test.htm to show how you really are exposed to threats and if your systems is running as it should.
PC hacked through Limewire and Windows messenger
by - 6/3/05 10:40 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Yes it has been hacked and I ended up paying 90$ dollars extra to my enternet provider.They used the program LIMEWIRE and windows messenger to use my computer as a server.The same thing happenned to my friend and he was also signed up with LIMEWIRE.Whoever did this is lucky he is not in front of me because he would remember this for the rest of his life.
Thank you for your concern.
Gilles Fournier
granby1@videotron.ca
how long ago was this?
by jamie.p.walsh - 6/3/05 10:46 AM In reply to: PC hacked through Limewire and Windows messenger byand what actually happened. how did it gain control?
Re. Has your office server ever been kicked in its scsi driv
by Rogue Spear - 6/3/05 10:42 AM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Lee Koo hacked my mail server by VNC remote access, the other week and ever since then has been sending me spam mail every week.
I fired the sys admin who had the weak password, but Lee Koos chubby face still shows up on some of my users desktops.
Never been hacked!
by Melmac91 - 6/3/05 1:34 PM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Portscan has been made but there are none open by default!!
I use SmoothWall Express 2.0, with all updates. Works perfect, it's free and pretty easy to install on a PC.
Thanks to Linux I have never been hacked
by DaveW1966 - 6/3/05 2:49 PM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Gave up on Microsoft and Windows years ago.
I have been using a Linux distro called FC 3 w/Ephiphany and Thunderbird, therefore I have never been hacked.
yes once
by redondo5000 - 6/3/05 2:53 PM In reply to: Has your home computer ever been hacked? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
had a sprint pcs card in and was using the laptop late at night. I got tired, forgot to take the sprint card out and, because its a wide open portal directly into the laptop, I got hacked, got my hosts file changed, and the drive slowed down to almost a stop.
Had to rebuild the machine, was lucky I was able to save my data. I still use the sprint card when I'm away from wireless, but I stay on for only short times and I make sure to remove the card when I'm done.
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