Re: Hacker

From: Shenan Stanley (news_helper_at_hushmail.com)
Date: 04/26/04 

Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2004 17:15:31 -0500

Shelly wrote:
> A friend of mine just purchased a new computer with
> Windows XP about 60 days ago - last night, he was
> checking his email (hotmail), when everything went black
> on the screen, then he had dialog come up - Hello, etc....
> Basically, it is a hacker, trying to extort him for
> $400.00 to leave his computer alone, or he would destroy
> the hard drive. My friend first offered $100.00 to have
> the person go away and leave him alone, but when that
> didn't work and he threatened to take the computer to the
> cops, the hacker did what he had threatened and destroyed
> the hard drive. My friend can't access any of his files,
> etc, on the computer now.
> What is the procedure to handle this kind of thing? He
> has a current anti-virus program, it never suspected
> anything. My friend will now have to purchase a new hard
> drive and reload his programs, etc, but what can he do to
> prevent this from happening again? I suspect the hacker
> found him by his email address, and will attempt to mess
> with him again. He thinks the hacker has had his fun
> with him and will not bother him any longer for fear of
> being discovered somehow. I am also worried that this
> kind of thing can and will happen to my home computer and
> my other friends! Is there a specific place to go,
> Federal or otherwise, to handle this kind of thing? What
> are the chances of it happening to him again? Or to me
> on my computer? Any advise would be appreciated!

Your friend is being played the fool.
Do a repair installation on the computer:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/tips/dougknox/doug92.asp
or
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/repaxp.htm
or
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315341

Know that antivirus software does not protect you from everything. You need
a firewall, you need antispyware software, you need to do more than think
putting a dog in your unfenced yard protects your home belongings,
essentially.

You may have spyware/adware infesting your machine, follow the
appropriate section for that, making sure you use at least
THREE of the tools I list to scan and clean your machine AFTER
updating them. Cleaning up spyware/adware/malware usually
solves home page hijackers as well.

Please Notice that if you use AOL, you should at least upgrade to 9.0 or
greater before doing any of the fixes. I know you can get AOL 9.0 at almost
any convenience store, gas station, super market or other retail outlet in
the world, so this should not be a problem.

Turn on that firewall...
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/home/using/howto/homenet/icf.asp
(It has been reported that it now works with AOL 9.0+)

Make sure you have all the updates (critical) installed from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
(Scan for updates, Review and Install)

Get rid of the spy/ad/mal-ware..
(Yes - using MORE than one of these..
I recommend at least the first three. Also..
UPDATE the definitions for them before using.)

 Spybot Search and Destroy
 http://www.safer-networking.net/

 Lavasoft AdAware
 http://www.lavasoft.de

 CWSShredder
 http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

 Hijack This!
 http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

 I also like "The Cleaner" and "SpywareBlaster" and "SpywareGuard".
  - http://www.moosoft.com/
  - http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

The first is a PAY product, but useable for 30 days - it has found and
eliminated problems in the past the others did not. The latter two are
prevention mechanisms. I like SpywareGuard for those with enough processor
to have something running like antivirus software - and it prevents browser
hijacking quite well. SpywareBlaster is a FANTASTIC free product, I suggest
getting this after you cleanup and keeping it updated as well....

 And Assortment of Others:
 http://spywareinfo.com/

After you cleanup your PC somewhat of spy/ad/mal-ware, verify your antivirus
software is updated and run a full scan of your computer. If you have no
antivirus software - get one NOW! Grisoft AntiVirus:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to about
80 to 120MB (seems to be an optimal size for the normal user)

 - Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
 - Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
 - Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section,
   do the following:
  - Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
  - Click on "Settings" and change the
    "Amount of disk space to use:" to something between 80MB
    and 120MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right now.)
  - Click OK.
  - Click on "Delete Files" and select to
    "Delete all offline contents" (the checkbox) and click
    OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10 minutes or
    more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer
- Re-open Internet Explorer.

Uninstall any software you do not use often/ever. (If you have something
installed but never use it, uninstall it.) If you go through Control
Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and see things you seldom if ever use, it is to
your advantage to remove it.

Also, if you are tired of Web Page Pop-Ups/Unders.. You could try the
Google Toolbar.
http://toolbar.google.com/

Stop loading applications at logon.. run MSCONFIG and look under the startup
tab for things you DON'T want to startup! Search the Internet with Google
to discover what things are safe to remove and what things may even be
malware infecting your computer.

Better control your email and lessen the amount of time you spend dealing
with SPAM:
 SpamBayes
 http://sourceforge.net/projects/spambayes/
or
 Spamihilator.
 http://www.spamihilator.com 

-- 
<- Shenan ->
--

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