Re: Tracker Book Material - Online

From: CyberDroog (CyberDroog_at_starfleet.gov)
Date: 09/12/03 

Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 15:51:35 GMT

On 12 Sep 2003 06:54:13 GMT, donut <none@none.com> wrote:

>Yes, she is correct that a malicious hacker (thanks for using that term,
>Debbie, as we all know that most hackers are not malicious) could install a
>Trojan Horse on your computer and control it, even disabling your firewall.
>This is basic first grade security stuff.
>
>What she does not explain (so far) is how the Trojan Horse can get there in
>the first place if:

I agree. That seems to be a glaring omission. "They install a Trojan
Horse which disabled your anti-virus and firewall protection".

How??? Debbies solution to this, as posted here many times is... to
install anti-virus and firewall programs, and disable some Windows
services.

Those Windows services, according to Debbie, make the anti-virus and
firewall programs useless. That is flat out false. You can have every
service Windows offers active. All the popular firewall programs, by
default, prevent *any* connection to the net.

That means you have to configure the firewall to allow access. Now that
does involve some security mindedness and a bit of knowledge. But that is
something about which Debbie, as far as I have seen, has never uttered a
single word.

I took a look at the site. It goes without saying that chapter 1 and
chapter 2 are essentially talking about the same thing. Why two
"chapters"? Note that the term chapter must be taken loosely. Each
consists of only a few paragraphs.

Chapter 3, outlining the curious, and apparently magical, way in which
malicious hackers install trojans and replace your firewall and anti-virus
software, also contains the following odd statement.

"If you want to learn more about computer security, if you’re a beginner,
one avenue is to read-up on configuring your mail and browsing
applications. Google and Yahoo also have Newsgroups and message boards
pertaining to the aforementioned. If utilizing a Windows platform, do some
reading on configuring your Windows Internet Options both Internet and
Local Settings. Also, spend time learning what applications in Windows are
running and on what port they run on. "

??? I thought the book was supposed to *be* the security training... It
would seem rather disheartening to buy a book about computer security and
right off the bat being given the advice "Read some books on computer
security".

I hope Debbie doesn't move on to writing software. I can see her releasing
a powerful new combination anti-virus/firewall "program" that consists of a
single text file that says: Step 1: Get yourself Visual Basic and write an
anti-virus/firewall program.

Chapter 4 contains Debbie's usual list of strange and altogether
unexplained beliefs about how to know when your system is hacked.

A. Hackers disable your Daylight Savings Time.

How? Why? Why would the malicious hacker leave an obvious clue on your
system for absolutely no benefit?

B. The clock on the desktop can be one hour ahead or one hour behind, on
occasion.

Well wouldn't that be the expected result of your Daylight Savings Time
setting being changed? I think she is padding her list.

C. Your Network Places Icon on the desktop disappears.

How? Why? These malicious hackers, according to Debbie, have the ability
to install Trojan Horses on your system, replace your anti-virus and
firewall programs, etc, etc. And again they leave such an obvious clue
when doing so is of absolutely no benefit to them.

D. If using a Windows platform: when you start your computer, your original
screen will pop up, but since the hackers need to boot into their Networks,
or Server(s), the system will quickly re-boot and the original screen will
appear twice. But your system may re-boot twice instead of once when
loading Windows OEM versions.

Another fully unexplored statement. Why exactly would this happen? What's
this extra network? Precisely what registry settings or config files cause
the system to run this extra network? It has to run *somehow*, yet no
details are offered.

Etc, etc. Debbie presents a long list of commonly known Windows bugs or
symptoms of common problems and suggests that malicious hackers are behind
it all. No details, no proof.

And apparently no proof *reading* either. The writing is so bad that it
gives the impression of having been translated from Russian to English by a
Japanese person, who knew neither Russian nor English, with the assistance
of a Chinese friend who did know both Russian and English but only spoke
broken Japanese.

But hey, that *does* give Debbie a readily identifiable style... 

---
Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, play no jokes and cannot tell the 
difference between reality and an imagined thought or image. What we continually 
think about eventually will manifest in our lives. 
  - Madwed, Sidney

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Tracker Book Material - Online
    ... Horse which disabled your anti-virus and firewall protection". ... and disable some Windows ... Those Windows services, according to Debbie, make the anti-virus and ... malicious hackers install trojans and replace your firewall and anti-virus ...
    (comp.security.firewalls)
  • Re: Tracker Book Material - Online
    ... Horse which disabled your anti-virus and firewall protection". ... and disable some Windows ... Those Windows services, according to Debbie, make the anti-virus and ... malicious hackers install trojans and replace your firewall and anti-virus ...
    (alt.computer.security)
  • The Trackers First Review Response
    ... Here are the "Malicious Hackers Best ... > hidden firewall applicationto protect their Virtual Private ... > your system for a Backdoor, Trojan Horse, Virus, or Worm until your ... Typically once a system is compromised, there is little need to install ...
    (microsoft.public.security)