Beware of hacker bothering CD users

[Adam Shapiro]

Originally Posted by Tytus Gerrish

i haven't had any damage to any of my computers but i have encountered strange random people that say they got my screen name from CD asking me to connect with them so they could either get or send a file.

That's a very scary thought. Everyone needs to take extreme caution when even talking to, let alone sharing files with, anyone unknown to them, whether or not they say something familiar like "CD". These are harsh times we're living in that people would terrorize such a great community like ours.

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by Bill Moore

The Mac public has had to deal with fewer of these malicious attacks than folks running Windows OS's, but with the new Boot Camp from Apple that won't hold true anymore for folks wanting to run Windows on their Mac. Those who have been diligent about computer security prior to Boot Camp will continue to be diligent, but those who have ignored security will learn a lesson quickly if they choose to run WinXP unprotected.

Psst, Bill, it was a joke. I do that to Matt all the time.

Yes, I understand that, but on a PPC PowerBook I feel pretty safe, not inpenitrable, but still very safe. I accadentaly had my Bluetooth on in the airport (where I'm posting now), and I got an ping from a Nokia phone to connect to me and give me a file. I kinda chuckled, and declined. I now have bluetooth turned off, I had it on just incase i needed to use it.

[Rickertsen2]

anybody with that sort of thing in their profile poses no threat. Anybody attempting the simple social engineering tricks mentioned earlier poses no threat. I don't think there is a single person on these forums who would fall for that.

I wonder how old this dweeb is what his motivations are.

[Adam Shapiro]

Originally Posted by Rickertsen2

anybody with that sort of thing in their profile poses no threat. Anybody attempting the simple social engineering tricks mentioned earlier poses no threat. I don't think there is a single person on these forums who would fall for that.

I wonder how old this dweeb is what his motivations are.

He probably just wants to stir people up and cause a commotion. Some people have a lot of time on their hands and nothing to do with it.

[KenWittlief]

one thing is for sure - we have totally made his day - he is drooling on his keyboard each time he reads this thread "YEAH! Someone is talking about ME!..."

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

There is a way hackers can cause you grief without gaining control of your computer.

Dont use the same password on any of your internet accounts. A hacker can monitor the raw traffic from your IP address. As you log into different websites the encryption is all different, BUT if you use use same password for different accounts there are programs that will analize the encrypted 'hash' and figure out your password.

The prevention is easy - use a different password for every website account you have.

Amen to that!

Some time ago, I wrote an article for the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) newsletter Packet Status Register. You can find the article on Page 8 of this issue. I have also uploaded a copy below.

I strongly urge everyone to read and follow the suggestions given. It will bring your security level to a very high point with minimal effort, and in fact, I never forget a site's password, ever, these days - 'cause I know my core. (I do forget user names though...

Don

[Kevin Sevcik]

This would probably explain random IM's I've been getting lately. I was assuming it was just a spam bot trying to pretend to be human, but it seemed to be doing a very poor job of it, as it wouldn't even reply to the short reply I sent back to it. If it's the same guy, it's amusing to know that he's failing the Turing Test.

Also amusing would be setting up a honeypot or something and accepting one of the transfers so you could grab his IP and inform his ISP that he's an idiot. As he doesn't sound clever enough to even be using a proxy.

[Tim566]

computer security 101:

1)Make sure the source is trust worthy

2)file transfer over AIM rarely a good idea...

3) Use a Virus scan on any/all downloaded files

4) also check for files added that you were unaware about

5) check date modified on all files on your computer and scan those if it changed

6)Firewalls are usually helpful

7)Make sure all vital data is backed up so if in case of an emergency you can wipe your computer and start fresh and restore the vital files(ex: tax documents etc.)


Please feel Free to add on anything I may have over looked but I believe following these guidelines should keep you safe from a majority of if not all unwanted computer invasions