I have reason to believe

Originally posted by Iamschist

Originally posted by Superhans
yes...someone hacked you and wrote barf on your screen. Chances are you probably copy/pasted something you didn't mean to.

I am not crazy or hallucinating, why would I type barf after a video I was getting ready to post?? If you can't be helpful why did you post?

Your reply to what i said really speaks volumes

Originally posted by UNIT76
people who are starting to become familiar with all this could also try downloading and using some software like process-checker, or hijackthis..

(you can also post the reports directly at websites like help2go.com)

Hi Unit , I am sort of unfamiliar, Could you elaborate a bit more? I am not clear what these programs would do, and what reports are you referring to?

reply to post by Superhans


Your Psychology 101 pairs up nicely with your cynicism and makes a lovely toxic soup.

reply to post by Iamschist


no worries, that's what i'm here for (starred your last two posts btw, i like the way your mind works)

ok, back on page 1 someone mentioned CTRL+ALT+DELETE (probably member 'Klassified') ..when you press those keys the (inbuilt) task manager appears, this kinda shows the user what tasks are running in memory, what programs are running and open, (memory processes, but all that will come later..)

so in that inbuilt task manager box, you can suspend certain processes (more or less stuff your computer is thinking about), monitor how much memory these processes use, and so forth.. now keep in mind this is all just 'stock' operating system.. and we're dealing with 'hackers' here who just blow all that factory standard stuff out of the water..

pimp my laptop

..so other than the 'stock' anti-virus, firewalls, malware scanners, etc etc... we start to venture into the same 'technical' field these hackers are operating in (starting to fight the battle on their own terms)

all this is complex, and already i'm rambling a bit (hehe) so one of the simplest first steps into this whole new field is with these process checkers and tools like hijackthis - essentially these are suped-up versions of the inbuilt task manager..

you'd 'run' these tool programs instead of pressing ctrl+alt+del

some of these 'tools' will perform scans and then spit out a report (text file) which you can then submit to various websites in a forum, then a tech will assist you further (help2go may still offer this service completely free, but it would be nice if a user can donate and keep them operational)

..uhh, so where does that leave us? ..well, the other capabilities of those 'tools' (and others) will also be described in the documentation one downloads along with them, ..so to save us all time here (1) mainly these tools are used for the sweep and report capability (in that they are also a first small 'extra-step' in the proactive defence vs. subtle more 'advanced' forms of intrusion, ie: malware, rootkits and so on..)

and (2) the tools are slightly intuitive with a simple GUI (uhh, that's Graphic User Interface for anyone who just read that like some russian surname) ..so they ought to be simple enough to figure out AND will most likely WARN you if you are about to screw something up on your own computer (simply put, read any and all documentation and read technical forums when able)

..for now, these tools can offer you a little more versatility and feedback than the inbuilt process-checker.

there is way too much to know about computer security. try to learn as much as you can if you are being attacked in this way ..i've lost 2 computers previously through sophisticated attacks and expect more. always back-up any valuable data and be prepared to start again at a moments notice. semper fe

..you might also like to make use of the system restore points (just type system restore into your computers search bar and a intro screen should soon be along..)

/sips tea ..hope this made some sense

reply to post by UNIT76


Great explanations! Thank you so much. A lot for me, a rock geek, to digest. Luckily I can reread it a few times, will check out those programs you suggested. Thanks for the stars.

Who is your internet provider? Usually you can get some kind of free anti virus suite from them. Like Comcast you can get Norton 360 software suite free. Which actually is pretty darn good. Nothing I do can get passed Norton from me testing it. Yes I actually do this. However, I keep them under control by using VM's or sand boxing them in a containment file.

Back in the day Norton use to be complete garbage right alongside Mcafee. They really have come a long ways though. Comcast use to offer Mcafee, but quickly changed to Norton 360 as it was a far more superior suite. I have a friend who is a well seasoned senior programmer by profession and has a masters degree in computer science programming. He use to work for Symantec till he moved on to bigger better things. We're talking about a programmer who makes a 6 figure income. This is probably one of the reasons why Norton got better.

I remember I bought a Mcafee suite with like a 1 year subscription/updates/support. Before the year was out I found Mcafee being controlled by a nasty virus that disabled Mcafee completely. Their coding wasn't protected all to well and I wasn't really impressed. They may have gotten better who knows as competition out there these days is brutal. You have to understand as it's a constant battle going on Good versus Evil. Guys who write malicious code for thrills or for profit are programmers as well.

Comodo is also another really good security software firm and is highly recommended for not just anti viruses/firewall software, but also a really good place to get CA certificates for websites VPN's etc. In fact they offer a completely free anti-virus firewall suite free for home use. However, you can buy strong commercial business grade software. They also offer a completely free e-mail signature certificate to encrypt e-mail and is good for 1 year. Combine this with Microsoft's Live Essentials e-mail program and you're set. Microsoft by the way doesn't support Outlook Express anymore. People talking about the government monitoring e-mail. Well now you can encrypt your e-mail's free so there really is no excuse. The common average user out there doesn't even know what a e-mail signature certificate is let alone know how to set one up and how to use it.

My friend I mentioned earlier, Him and I have had lot of interesting conversations. He's more of software guy, I am more of the hardware guy. We're like a opposite kinda of a duo, both of us have computer science background. As far as malicious code goes. There is things out there in the coding world that you wouldn't believe & what it can do to your system. It can turn your system into a completely remotely controlled zombie in a matter of seconds. It punches holes in your virus, it punches holes in your firewalls. With 3 lines of code I can tell your computer to literally eat itself data wise and it has the potential to even destroy hardware. There is no firewall and no virus software that can stop it. This code can be injected into anything and self execute and bypasses all built in OS security even UAC.

What Anonymous has done in that past is child's play in comparison and the government knows this. So the lesson here is that a hacker armed with programming knowledge can be way more destructive. No system connected to the internet or network is completely safe. I am sure the NSA on ATS is sitting up in their chair right about now. With the government being more intrusive these days cyber warfare is inevitable.

reply to post by sean


Thanks for your reply. I have a broadband stick, and the support of any kind would have to be rated poor.

I am looking at Comodo actually. Maxatoria recommended Bleeping Computer, and I went there and prowled around looking at various options. Synchronicity you mentioning it.

My friend I mentioned earlier, Him and I have had lot of interesting conversations. He's more of software guy, I am more of the hardware guy. We're like a opposite kinda of a duo, both of us have computer science background. As far as malicious code goes. There is things out there in the coding world that you wouldn't believe & what it can do to your system. It can turn your system into a completely remotely controlled zombie in a matter of seconds. It punches holes in your virus, it punches holes in your firewalls. With 3 lines of code I can tell your computer to literally eat itself data wise and it has the potential to even destroy hardware. There is no firewall and no virus software that can stop it. This code can be injected into anything and self execute and bypasses all built in OS security even UAC.

I believe it, and very scary stuff too. I can't describe how bizarre it is to see a word you did not type appear on your screen, beyond freaky. I don't think I will ever feel safe or like I am alone on my computer again. So far it has cost me 3 days of dealing with it, and hours and hours of time I will never get back.