Re: IMPORTANT: Email warning!
Al Getz wrote:
>
> IMPORTANT
>
> Im posting this because this issue *may* possibly affect people on this
> list...
>
> Yesterday morning someone hacked into my computer AGAIN.
> I fell asleep with the comp turned on and connected to the internet
> (something i dont like to do!) and when i woke up there were
> several text files appearing on my desktop. The files didnt seem
> to contain any virus or anything like that, just objectional text
> including bad language. The files were easily deleted, and i checked
> the rest of my system using my 'virus' program (written in Euphoria)
> and i didnt find anything else that seemed harmful. The problem is,
> last time this happened a few emails got sent off using my screen
> name (Xaxo) with text containing various bad language and bad jokes
> to friends of mine. Im posting this just in case this happened again
> to anyone who reads this list, even though i dont usually store email
> addresses in an easy to find location anymore.
> I appologize for the inconvenience and am working on ways to avoid
> this kind of thing. Im also contiually updating my 'virus' program
> although i havent found a way to prevent things like this from happening
> altogether...only correct things that happened after something goes wrong
> with the system or strange files suddenly appear in a directory somewhere.
> I usually get hit worse than this however, with dll's, .js scripts, and
> stuff like that. I even have SP2 and that doesnt seem to make ANY difference.
> Also, from a scan i can find various 'remnant' files left as a result of
> someone running MY Exe FILES from MY computer! I dont see how anyone can get
> this kind of privilege?
>
> *LAST* time i was hit was about six weeks ago, but that time i was actually
> surfing the web. The screen went to a black background and the only thing
> left was a dialog box saying something like i had the 'sassor worm' and
> i had to run this virus program to get rid of it, with an "ok" button to
> run the program (which actually did nothing when clicked). The name of
> the virus program was "Gold" something or 'something' GOLD, which
> was apparently downloaded very nearly (within about a minute) the same
> time as the 'virus'! Now this makes me wonder, what are the chances of
> getting a virus AND virus protection software downloaded within 60 seconds
> of each other when not even trying to download anything at all???
> This hit was so bad though i couldnt run anything so the only way around it
> was to reinstall, which takes quite a bit of time because most other
> software has to be reinstalled also!
>
> Anyway, a number of programs had been run and just in case anyone got any
> objectional emails please ignore them, or better yet, if they are dated
> between say about 12:01am to about 6:00am yesterday morning dont even
> open them :)
>
> Thanks very much for your attention, and if anyone has any ideas or
> suggestions
> about security issues with XP-SP2 please mention them either here or email.
> I thought SP2 was supposed to clear up a lot of security issues with XP!
>
> Weird thing is, i know there are people who stay connected to the internet
> for many hours at a time and dont get hit. They must be running Linux! :)
>
>
> Take care,
> Al
>
>
> Take care,
> Al
>
> And, good luck with your Euphoria programming!
>
> My bumper sticker: "I brake for LED's"
>
Using XP, I'm running McAffee on one computer and Norton on another along with
Microsoft Antispyware. Even though my cable router has a firewall in it I am
also running ZoneAlarm free firewall even though the Windows XP firewall should
be good enough. I've though about dropping ZoneAlarm but it warns me about
*outgoing* connections which is nice (and a hassle sometimes).
Virus scanners should not "download themselves".
Make sure remote desktop/remote assistance is turned off.
Use Firefox and Thunderbird instead of Explorer and Outlook.
If you must use Explorer, make sure the security is set to not download Active X
/ Active content. It should warn you first.
I don't have any problems with javascript or java but I know others on this list
do.
Check out Shields Up! https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 for a security scan.
It will tell you any open ports and how visible your computer is to the world
and how to fix it.
Sounds like you should pave the computer and re-install Windows or Linux.
=====================================
Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
j.
|
Not Categorized, Please Help
|
|
