Major Security Problems, Fradulent use on accounts! HELP

[David H. Lipman]

From: "joannestevenson" <[email protected]>

| Hey Guys,
|
| Ive recently had someone log into my paypal account and try to maketransactions for
| thousands of pounds, luckily I noticed this and it isbeing investigated.
|
| Im not sure whether this is due spyware and someone watching what mypasswords are, or
| whether its just pot luck and they've got my passwordanother way. I dont think its spyware
| as if they had a log of all of mypasswords surely they would go for my bank account and
| not paypal, Ihave had no other activity that I know of in any of my other accountsetc. I
| plan to format my computer as I cant risk someone knowing all ofmy passwords!
|
| I basically want some advice on what is the best way to ensure that mycomputer is fully
| protected at all times as there are so many out thereand im totally lost!! Ive tried
| Norton Firewall for over a year but itslowed my computer right down. Im currently using
| Zone Alarm but doesntseem to be protecting me from spyware as when running checks Ive
| foundlots of spyware. I dont mind paying for the programs as long as im surethey are
| effective.
|
| Im fed up of Viruses, Spyware and Trojans and I think I need some helpprotecting my
| computer as I now use it for work and cant risk thishappening all of the time.
|
| I have heard that a router can act as a firewall? Is this an effectivemethod of protecting
| my computer?
|
| Any help would be much appreciated, before I go insane!!
|
| Joanne "Stressed" Stevenson!!!!!!-- joannestevenson


All the software in the world won't help if you don't practice Safe Hex nor will it help if
you fall for PayPal Phising email. The chances are high this is how you got ripped off.

If you are connected to Broadband Internet the I suggest obtaining a Cable/DSL Router such
as the Linksys BEFSR41. On the Router I suggest blocking both TCP and UDP ports 135 ~ 139
and 445 on the Router you obtain. This will provide a better level of security than your
present setup. There are even Routers that have full FireWall implementations. They just
cost more.

 

[joannestevenson]

Hey Guys,

Ive recently had someone log into my paypal account and try to mak
transactions for thousands of pounds, luckily I noticed this and it i
being investigated.

Im not sure whether this is due spyware and someone watching what m
passwords are, or whether its just pot luck and they've got my passwor
another way. I dont think its spyware as if they had a log of all of m
passwords surely they would go for my bank account and not paypal,
have had no other activity that I know of in any of my other account
etc. I plan to format my computer as I cant risk someone knowing all o
my passwords!

I basically want some advice on what is the best way to ensure that m
computer is fully protected at all times as there are so many out ther
and im totally lost!! Ive tried Norton Firewall for over a year but i
slowed my computer right down. Im currently using Zone Alarm but doesn
seem to be protecting me from spyware as when running checks Ive foun
lots of spyware. I dont mind paying for the programs as long as im sur
they are effective.

Im fed up of Viruses, Spyware and Trojans and I think I need some hel
protecting my computer as I now use it for work and cant risk thi
happening all of the time.

I have heard that a router can act as a firewall? Is this an effectiv
method of protecting my computer?

Any help would be much appreciated, before I go insane!!

Joanne "Stressed" Stevenson!!!!!

 

[Fitz]

In addition to Dave's suggestions, stay away from "BAD" sites (you know the
ones I mean). A NAT router will help but only in conjunction with "Safe
Hex". Regularly scan your computer in Safe mode with your anti-virus and
anti-scumware applications. Use complex passwords that include at least a
non-standard character such as "$" , numbers and upper and lower case
characters. Disable unnecessary services. Of course if someone is logging
in on your physical computer, you need to set a strong password in the BIOS.

--
***
NEVER download files from anywhere unless it is from the website of the
developer, manufacturer or some entity that you trust. Developer websites
ALWAYS have the most up to date files that haven't been tampered with by
some third party who is "hosting" (read Leeching or Stealing) those files
without permission. Never open email attachments from people you don't
know. It's called Safe Hex.
***

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "joannestevenson" <[email protected]>

|
| I have never clicked on any emails from Paypal as I know about all ofthe risks. My MSN
| account password has now been changed and I cant login either. Someone must have hacked me
| in some way to be able to know the emailand password for my Paypal plus the email and
| password for MSN :S
|
| HELP!!!!-- joannestevenson

Follow the advice I gave you previously. Use the following tool to see if you have any
keylogging Trojans.

Start wuth teh McAfee module.

I want to see the final HTML log McAfee generates or any of the other log files generated by
the other modules.

Download MULTI_AV.EXE from the URL --
http://www.ik-cs.com/programs/virtools/Multi_AV.exe

To use this utility, perform the following...
Execute; Multi_AV.exe { Note: You must use the default folder C:\AV-CLS }
Choose; Unzip
Choose; Close

Execute; C:\AV-CLS\StartMenu.BAT
{ or Double-click on 'Start Menu' in C:\AV-CLS }

NOTE: You may have to disable your software FireWall or allow WGET.EXE to go through your
FireWall to allow it to download the needed AV vendor related files.

C:\AV-CLS\StartMenu.BAT -- { or Double-click on 'Start Menu' in C:\AV-CLS}
This will bring up the initial menu of choices and should be executed in Normal Mode.
This way all the components can be downloaded from each AV vendor's web site.
The choices are; Sophos, Trend, McAfee, Kaspersky, Exit this menu and Reboot the PC.

You can choose to go to each menu item and just download the needed files or you can
download the files and perform a scan in Normal Mode. Once you have downloaded the files
needed for each scanner you want to use, you should reboot the PC into Safe Mode [F8 key
during boot] and re-run the menu again and choose which scanner you want to run in Safe
Mode. It is suggested to run the scanners in both Safe Mode and Normal Mode.

When the menu is displayed hitting 'H' or 'h' will bring up a more comprehensive PDF help
file. http://www.ik-cs.com/multi-av.htm


* * * Please report back your results * * *

 

[joannestevenson]

From: "joannestevenson" (e-mail address removed)

| Hey Guys,
|
| Ive recently had someone log into my paypal account and try t
maketransactions for
| thousands of pounds, luckily I noticed this and it isbein
investigated.
|
| Im not sure whether this is due spyware and someone watching wha
mypasswords are, or
| whether its just pot luck and they've got my passwordanother way.
dont think its spyware
| as if they had a log of all of mypasswords surely they would go fo
my bank account and
| not paypal, Ihave had no other activity that I know of in any of m
other accountsetc. I
| plan to format my computer as I cant risk someone knowing all ofm
passwords!
|
| I basically want some advice on what is the best way to ensure tha
mycomputer is fully
| protected at all times as there are so many out thereand im totall
lost!! Ive tried
| Norton Firewall for over a year but itslowed my computer right down
Im currently using
| Zone Alarm but doesntseem to be protecting me from spyware as whe
running checks Ive
| foundlots of spyware. I dont mind paying for the programs as long a
im surethey are
| effective.
|
| Im fed up of Viruses, Spyware and Trojans and I think I need som
helpprotecting my
| computer as I now use it for work and cant risk thishappening all o
the time.
|
| I have heard that a router can act as a firewall? Is this a
effectivemethod of protecting
| my computer?
|
| Any help would be much appreciated, before I go insane!!
|
| Joanne "Stressed" Stevenson!!!!!!-- joannestevenson


All the software in the world won't help if you don't practice Safe He
nor will it help if
you fall for PayPal Phising email. The chances are high this is ho
you got ripped off.

If you are connected to Broadband Internet the I suggest obtaining
Cable/DSL Router such
as the Linksys BEFSR41. On the Router I suggest blocking both TCP an
UDP ports 135 ~ 139
and 445 on the Router you obtain. This will provide a better level o
security than your
present setup. There are even Routers that have full FireWal
implementations. They just
cost more.

I have never clicked on any emails from Paypal as I know about all o
the risks. My MSN account password has now been changed and I cant lo
in either.
Someone must have hacked me in some way to be able to know the emai
and password for my Paypal plus the email and password for MSN :S

HELP!!!

 

[Guest]

All these suggestions are useful but the key thing is- stop using IE. There
is no feasible way this browser can be secured, and it picks-up spyware
simply by visiting certain malicious sites, nothing more.

Or, use it just once more to visit http://www.mozilla.org ;-)

Even with Moz/FF I wouldn't allow it to remember passwords for critical
things like payments, better to type them in.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Ian" <[email protected]>

| All these suggestions are useful but the key thing is- stop using IE. There
| is no feasible way this browser can be secured, and it picks-up spyware
| simply by visiting certain malicious sites, nothing more.
|
| Or, use it just once more to visit http://www.mozilla.org ;-)
|
| Even with Moz/FF I wouldn't allow it to remember passwords for critical
| things like payments, better to type them in.
|

While I agree alteranates are safer such as Mozilla FireFor and Opera, IE and Safe Hex work
well together.
Years of using IE as default browser and I have never beeen infected with *any* malware.

 

[Mike Fields]

From: "Ian" <[email protected]>

| All these suggestions are useful but the key thing is- stop using IE. There
| is no feasible way this browser can be secured, and it picks-up spyware
| simply by visiting certain malicious sites, nothing more.
|
| Or, use it just once more to visit http://www.mozilla.org ;-)
|
| Even with Moz/FF I wouldn't allow it to remember passwords for critical
| things like payments, better to type them in.
|

While I agree alteranates are safer such as Mozilla FireFor and Opera, IE and Safe Hex work
well together.
Years of using IE as default browser and I have never beeen infected with *any* malware.

Something else to consider is using something like Cryptinfo that will
keep your passwords and other "stuff" encrypted. Designed to work
with your PDA and computer, you can just use the computer portion
if you want. http://www.normsoft.com/cryptinfo/ I have used it for
several years on my PDA and computers and been happy with it.

mikey