How Protected are YOU!!!

[Kitty 34]

Boy did I learn my lesson over the past week!!!

Apparently, a hacker or virus got into my computer and did some things that caused the Internet "gods" to shut us down!!!

We had to update our Anti-Norton program and we installed a Zone Alarm to help protect us and then we had to fax our assurance that this would NEVER happen again or they would shut us down for good!!!

Yes, little ole me who spends 95% of her Internet time on the DIS, got shut down!!

I'm still a bit paranoid of ANYthing I do on the Net and believe me I don't do much!!

So, don't let what happened to me, happen to you.....PROTECT yourself!!!


Now on to your regularly programmed DISing!!

 

[catsrule]

Kitty no dis! boo! I have norton antivirus, keep it updated, it found 1 virus so far.

 

[December99]

And it's very wise to remember NOT to open ANY email from anyone you don't recognize!!!!!

 

[coqui]

Well there's a lot of things you need to protect your machine.

Unfortunately Antivirus only stops known viruses. not the new ones that come up.

There is only one way to completely be safe. That's to unplug your modem or Network Card

 

[Kitty 34]

Originally posted by coqui
Well there's a lot of things you need to protect your machine.

Unfortunately Antivirus only stops known viruses. not the new ones that come up.

There is only one way to completely be safe. That's to unplug your modem or Network Card

Luis, I have a router....should I unplug my computer from that when I'm not DISing??

 

[Saffron]

Oh Kitty! That's awful!!!!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Sadly what Coqui says is true. I have been infected on a number of occassions. I've learned to make frequent back-ups.

I must say however that I've never had to fax anybody with a promise to never become infected again. I'm not sure how I could guarantee that.

 

[nativetxn]

Scary, isn't it? Someone "stole" my ip once. It wasn't fun getting that cleared up

 

[coqui]

Originally posted by Kitty 34
Luis, I have a router....should I unplug my computer from that when I'm not DISing??

With a router, as long as you haven't configured any ports to be open, you should be fine. A default setting on routers is to only let HTTP connections through.

The only way someone will be able to get you is by sending you an attachment that allwos them to manipulate your computer. Sometimes antivirus software will not pick these up. Just be carefull when you open attachments and you should be fine.

[EDIT] However routers are good in the sense that you can unplug your connection from them and then plug it back in without having to reboot your machine. (At least mine is that way - and I have a Linksys Router- one of the most common out there)[/EDIT]

 

[Kitty 34]

Originally posted by Toby'sFriend
Sadly what Coqui says is true. I have been infected on a number of occassions. I've learned to make frequent back-ups.

I must say however that I've never had to fax anybody with a promise to never become infected again. I'm not sure how I could guarantee that.

Hi Toby's Friend. My son wants to know how do you do back-ups? Thanks.

 

[coqui]

You can purchase a program called Norton Ghost. This takes an image of your entire hard drive and puts it to a single file. You then burn that onto a CD

Or you just burn all your important stuff on a CD

 

[Dan Murphy]

My Norton updates at least one per week, on Wednesday's. Sometimes more often. I use Zone Alarm also. I would say I get 3-5 infected emails a week, always stopped efficiently.

For backup, I have used Ghost.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

I feel sorry for my dad. He's pretty good about not opening attachments, etc., but my mom (not really net savvy) just opens anything & consequently their Dell is constantly getting viruses (which means that dad has to fix it). They have anti-virus software, but there's only so much they can do. If a virus comes out that the AV software doesn't have a definition for yet or the AV has expired, you're basically a sitting duck.


Luckily it's not really an issue with my Mac .

 

[Kitty 34]

I asked the guy what other things will bring in viruses since I have never ever opened an attachment and only open e-mails from about 6 people.

He said that AOL Instant Messenger can sometimes be a culprit but I'm not sure how, he didn't explain. My boys (used to) chat on that all the time.

Also one of my sons had downloaded Kazaa and the guy says there has been a lot of problems with that.


My boys thought I was paranoid before this about their internet time........you should see me now!!! If I need to wear a suit of shining armor to protect me and my computer I will!!!!

 

[damo]

LOL Kitty, thought you were talking contraceptives here!

 

[Kitty 34]

Originally posted by damo
LOL Kitty, thought you were talking contraceptives here!

LOL!!! I guess I should have worded my title 'How protected is Your Computer'!!

 

[Blondie]

About this time last year, we kept having problems with someone or something sending us a virus or hacking their way into our computer. This virus or "hack-job" would prevent us from being able to get onto the internet, messed with out settings, etc.

I kept telling my DH that I thought it was a virus or a hack-job, and finally, after the third time, HE BELIEVED ME--and we updated our Norton anti-virus program AND installed a Firewall!!!

Knock on wood, ever since then, we've been A-okay!

When someone is trying to hack their way in, I'll get a little notice on my computer screen.

During the last three intrusion attempts, I've traced the ISP's back to Korea, London and Parsippany, New Jersey. (Love the ISP tracking device!!!)

I wouldn't have a computer now without a Firewall!!

And--I never open an e-mail from someone I don't know, or one that looks suspicious. You can usually tell the Kleg Viruses by their file size (think BIG.)

 

[Kitty 34]

Originally posted by Blondie


When someone is trying to hack their way in, I'll get a little notice on my computer screen.

During the last three intrusion attempts, I've traced the ISP's back to Korea, London and Parsippany, New Jersey. (Love the ISP tracking device!!!)

How interesting, Blondie but kind of scary!!!

 

[danacara]

What happened with the fax?

And Blondie, I grew up about a mile from Parsippany. Hmm, a hotbed of hackers over there!