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February 10th, 2006, 10:10 AM
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Lieutenant Colonel
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Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: DC Burbs USA
Posts: 1,460
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Re: Hijacked PC\'s Being Held For Ransom
1) Don’t use an account with administrative privileges for everyday activities.
2) Don’t open email from unknown senders.
3) Don’t use IE with low security settings. Better yet, don’t use IE.
4) Do use antivirus and keep it up to date. Symantec is still one of the best out there; just don’t get the version with all of the extra crap.
5) Do keep your system patched.
6) Do use a firewall of some sort. Hardware is better than software, but software is better than nothing.
7) Do set windows to require a Ctrl, Alt, and Del at log on.
8) Do put a complex password on the admin account and turn off administrative shares.
9) Do rename the admin account.
This sounds like an old TSR exploit, but could also be some type of root kit. Many home systems have a null admin password and administrative shares turned on. So some punk scans his local WAN subnet for computer names and with a whack-whack computername admin logon with no password gets right into your root drive. Sound easy? It is, and it’s hard for the average person to keep a system locked down. I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again. A hardware firewall is your best defense. Even if you let the system become a bot, the stand alone firewall will still prevent the hacker from making use of your system.
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Think about it
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February 10th, 2006, 05:07 PM
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Shrapnel Fanatic
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Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: USA
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Re: Hijacked PC\'s Being Held For Ransom
Tell people how to do these things. I sure as hell am not that knowledgeable.
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Creator of the Star Trek Mod - AST Mod - 78 Ship Sets - Conquest Mod - Atrocities Star Wars Mod - Galaxy Reborn Mod - and Subterfuge Mod.
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February 10th, 2006, 05:44 PM
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Captain
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: At work or sleeping
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Re: Hijacked PC\'s Being Held For Ransom
As soon as my replacement HD arrives I'll be installing XP on it and having to teach myself how to do all that, as the guy who set up my system before is no longer available to me.
Ugh... 
Turin
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Geekdom is eternal... you will be assimilated... resistance is futile.
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February 10th, 2006, 07:45 PM
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Lieutenant Colonel
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Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: DC Burbs USA
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Re: Hijacked PC\'s Being Held For Ransom
Quote:
Atrocities said:
Tell people how to do these things. I sure as hell am not that knowledgeable.
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Well, that’s what I do for a living. If I tell you how to do it, then I have to get in your wallet 
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Think about it
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February 10th, 2006, 10:39 PM
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General
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Join Date: Sep 2003
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Re: Hijacked PC\'s Being Held For Ransom
Quote:
Thermodyne said:
1) Don’t use an account with administrative privileges for everyday activities.
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Guilty!
Quote:
2) Don’t open email from unknown senders.
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Check
Quote:
3) Don’t use IE with low security settings. Better yet, don’t use IE.
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Check
Quote:
4) Do use antivirus and keep it up to date. Symantec is still one of the best out there; just don’t get the version with all of the extra crap.
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Check
Quote:
5) Do keep your system patched.
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Check
Quote:
6) Do use a firewall of some sort. Hardware is better than software, but software is better than nothing.
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Semi-check. Software Firewall.
Quote:
7) Do set windows to require a Ctrl, Alt, and Del at log on.
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Not done...should do though.
Quote:
8) Do put a complex password on the admin account and turn off administrative shares.
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Done. Very complex password. 
Quote:
9) Do rename the admin account.
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Check
Quote:
Many home systems have a null admin password and administrative shares turned on.
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Are you serious!?!? People actually have their systems so unsecure...and it's so easy to fix! 
__________________
Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is that little voice at the end of the day that says "I'll try again tomorrow".
Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future.
Download the Nosral Confederacy (a shipset based upon the Phong) and the Tyrellian Imperium, an organic looking shipset I created! (The Nosral are the better of the two [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/Grin.gif[/img] )
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February 10th, 2006, 11:08 PM
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Second Lieutenant
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Somewhere out there...
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Re: Hijacked PC\'s Being Held For Ransom
What's really funny about our hoe system is that our DSL router has a hardware firewall, our wireless router has a hardware firewall, and then our Norton security system has a software firewall. That and out IP changes every one to two minutes, I think I'm pretty safe...
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February 10th, 2006, 11:28 PM
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National Security Advisor
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 5,624
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Re: Hijacked PC\'s Being Held For Ransom
Kerensky - you should try playing a game of TCP/IP with SE:IV and that configuration...  |
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