Re: Danger! Hacker Predators in this forum
- From: "PopS" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2006 11:33:45 -0400
<BLACKDOG157@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1144153416.991544.230430@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Folks,====> I doubt that's the source of your problem from what I
I'm 80% sure that I've been the victim of hackers that use this
forum.
I started off by posting a question about keystroke logging. I
was
told to go to activescan.com to do a scan.
know; it seems to be an OK site, and fairly useful IIRC.
The scan found viruses,
even though my Norton anti virus did not.====> That's possible, especially if you hadn't updated Norton
and/or Windows lately - I've no idea whether it's plausible or
not, but it's possibly correct.
Then various people gave me
advice to download software to get rid of the virus. The
advice seemed
good, they referred to some valid security websites and they
really
seemed to want to help.
====> That was your mistake, most likely. Unless you absolutely
know the poster is reliable, which takes time to do and has
nothing to do with their writing abilities sometimes, it's always
bad to go to unknown web sites without first researching to see
how good/bad they might be. Google is great for that initial
research.
Always take newsgroup advice as "advice" not advice that
doesn't need to be verified. Never assume someone else is right.
Even if they weren't malicious, they could have meant well and
not known the site was a loader. If something is recommended
that you haven't seen before, an ddon't already know about,
research it.
So I downloaded some software and started it,
and immediately Norton Anti Virus popped up with the message
that I now
had 3 trojans on my PC.
====> More evidence that you were sent to a "bad" site.
This should have warned me, but I kept on
stupidly following directions.
====> You said it, not me ;0). Consider it a lesson learned for
next time it happens.
I even let a program scan my entire PC
while connecting to some IP address. For all I know, all my===> Probably not, but it's possible some personal data was
files
have been copied and sent to Bulgaria!
being scanned for. If you have any valuable data such as bank
passwords, etc. stored, it'd be a good idea to change your
passwords ASAP.
To add to my troubles, now Norton Anti Virus no longer works.====> Typical of several viruses. They continue to avoid
detection that way. Some only turn off AutoProtect, some
actually trash your connection, some redirect, etc etc etc. It's
a wild wild world out there in places.
I guess the moral is, NEVER run software from people you do not====> AMEN! We all have to learn somehow. Symantec's good, but
know,
and don't be fooled by professional looking websites (any
hacker can
make one) and stick with Symantec and Microsoft.
you also DO need spyware protection, which Norton doesn't do,
really. And, a good firewall such as Zone Alarm (free/paid) or
Sygate (paid) or Symantec, or one of many, many other good ones
out there.
In general, you should have about three different spyware
applications. So far, no single application catches everything.
I use Adaware, Spybot Search & Destroy, and WinPatrol, but I"ll
let you research those for your own comfort ;-). There are many
other decent ones too, and most of them still free.
A good HOSTS file helps, too, if you're interested.
BTW, if by Microsoft, you meant Windows Defender, it's a BETA
software, meaning it still has bugs, and boy does it, and it's
not yet very effective. In conjunction with other
spyware/malware tools, it's fine, but not by itself; it just is
NOT ready for prime time! You do know what BETA stands for,
right? If not, I'll let you Google for it; time to learn. ;-)
I now have to reformat my hard drive, and do damage control on====> Actually, no, you don't.
all the
information that was stored on my PC.
IFF you have a good data backup, AND you know or don't care
about how to back up your emails & Favorites, etc., then it's
probably the least time consuming way to go, though.
Pesonally though, I like to "fix" my machines so I can learn
more about what went wrong and what I might have done to screw it
up.
If you wrote down or still have the names of those viruses and
trojans, you could go to Symantec, which you already trust, and
do a search for those names there. You will find automatic and
manual removal instructions there.
If by chance you are unable to get to the Symantec site (some
viruses will lock you out of those sites), come on back and we
can tell you how to bypass it and get to their site. One way to
try is to look up and use their IP address (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)
instead of their name.
With antivirus such as Symantec, adware protection, a software
firewall and consideration for the unknown sites you visit, you
can pretty much assure that you won't have this kind of problem
again.
If you'd like to know more, just ask, and mention your system
specs, os, browser, etc.. There's lots of info available here
and elsewhere.
HTH,
Pop
-- BD
.
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