Prevent the Hack Attack

Concerns of a Cyber attack I believe need at this point and time to be taken very seriously, the world is very unstable, not a year ago when we were being warned but multiple regions now seem to be on the brink.

Iran in almost revolution, Israel at odds even with the USA, North Korea's making what seems to be genuine threats to reawaken the war.

Sadly as the times appear to be closer to turning hot than I have ever seen them, it crosses my mind that any attack on the West if there was an escalation particularly to a mode where other powers like Russia or China got involved would be followed with a Cyber Attack...

The thing is, they will use OUR Computers, probably right now Millions of our machines are already compromised by various factions, silently awaiting use and that use would be to turn down the infrastructure around you and I



So I ask... all here on ATS to discuss and come up with methods by which, all of us can better protect ourselves from being inadvertently weaponized on the internet in the tragic event of war.

All information is appreciated particularly any expert advice...

But even the basics are fine...

Firewall, Virus... Back tracing...

Proper method for cleaning a computer completely...

any steps that can be taken to assure... that if things go Hot

We don't find ourselves in the position of OUR Computers having been used to allow an enemy attack, or shut a power grid or jam 9-11 calls

I consider this a very important topic... an area where Everyone can make a difference

All replies and knowledge are appreciated... I am somewhat saddened to feel that perhaps the time has come for a thread like this, but i feel that... things are close indeed to a time where we genuinely might need to take certain precautions

To start, if you even *think* you are under attack or have become a drone, kill your wireless adapter, unplug your network cable, or unlug your modem, whichever applies.

Then you run a full virus scan (if possible). This is where the debate of mac vs. linux vs. microsoft comes in. Yes, it is true that MS Windows is the target of more viruses. This is only because of it's market share. If a true electronic war was in play, a smart adversary would start attacking macs as well, so don't get lulled into submission by mac myths...run a virus scan.

if your computer has come up clean, then reconnect to the internet with the firewall turned on full and only allowing the browser through. Update your virus software, disconnect, and scan again.

For an average home user, this is the best course of action.

Now as for the people in charge of switches and routers, they should already have a contingency plan in place, but from my experience, a lot don't. (it's always there at the bottom of the TODO list) This means wide scale outages as routers and switches crumple under the rouge traffic. Not much can be done about that by the general public except stay offline for a day or two (and I mean turn the pc off or disconnect from the internet). Let the traffic thin to show the IT guys where the rouges are.

if a cyber attack happens it is going to be government orchistrated

what government? no clue

my guess is a UN-NWO style attack

at least that is what i am expecting

reply to post by rogerstigers


I work professionally on the internet, I of course have a decent firewall, virus software, spyware remover and even back trace software...

and this would be where my concern comes in...

Would Anything, commonly in stores or available for download even detect something proprietary?

More than once when back tracing I have gotten the map pulled up and specifically seen

North Korea, China, Pakistan

and other nations potentially hostile...

Wouldn't they be using stuff a bit beyond the capacity of lets say Zone Alarm to detect

I'm no expert on these issues, but don't most virus software companies focus on threats that are common? written by would be hackers basic exploits and stuff

How would one, know... if the system was truely compromised by a government sponsored professional? Even lets say are own...

I have often heard mention on the government end of Carnivore

and to bring that topic up... Does Microsoft work in cooperation with these companies?

i.e Are there intentional back doors that are left there specifically for govt monitoring... direct to your computer?

Many questions... not enough knowledge

But in short, how would you know if you had a serious exploit that your virus software wouldn't find...

are you down to line by line manual scanning of your computer (which seems daunting)

Or are there some nice programs that really can find anything...

reply to post by muzzleflash


Aye.. any information on the noob end is fantastic... great first post above.

Personally though I agree, I am talking about government sponsored hacking and what to look for...

I have seen a few reports offering numbers in the past of the number of compromised computers and they were very high...

I don't believe much of what I read but it seems to make sense, many people are extremely careless....


wondering what is out there that is known in terms of govt ability to access your machine and what potential other state sponsored systems might actually have.

reply to post by rogerstigers


what would you look for as a sign you have become a drone?

For the basics I would recommend getting some decent anti-virus software, a good personal firewall and a spyware removal tool.

Regularly running an anti-virus scan, say maybe twice a week and ensuring the definition files are always up to date.

Same procedure with the spyware removal tool, make sure to install any available updates for your OS.

Zonealarm & AVG Anti-virus are both free to download from the internet and offer a good level of protection.

If you have a wireless network at home then ensure your using encryption, not WEP as its easily broken. Use WPA2 and hide your SSID -
if you have a wireless router and don't need that feature then turn wireless off.

Looking at a slightly advanced level you could purchase a hardware firewall and create a series of control lists to really focus on filtering what goes in and out of your machine.

You could also install a network connections monitor that lists all incoming and outgoing connections existant on your machine.

As for signs of becoming a drone, you probably wouldn't even no - the idea is to prevent that from happening in the first place which is done by above; weekly scans etc.

So I ask... all here on ATS to discuss and come up with methods by which, all of us can better protect ourselves from being inadvertently weaponized on the internet in the tragic event of war.

A weaponized internet..come on now, this is just playing on the fears of the ignorant in the worst ways. Plain ol' fear mongering.

You cite Iran, North Korea, Israel, China and Russia... You forgot the boogy man.

I mean thats a great buzz word "weaponized internet" , But I think my AVG will do just fine and I am gonna stay online and not worry about the "terrorists" turning my Computer into a gun... One can only do so much online and if you can shut down a major system over the net then its most likely that it would be done directly with out utilizing other folks computers where the average Joe blow could go "WHATS THIS THING IN MY SYSTEM FILE?" Hmmmmmm I wonder.

Originally posted by titorite

So I ask... all here on ATS to discuss and come up with methods by which, all of us can better protect ourselves from being inadvertently weaponized on the internet in the tragic event of war.

A weaponized internet..come on now, this is just playing on the fears of the ignorant in the worst ways. Plain ol' fear mongering.

You cite Iran, North Korea, Israel, China and Russia... You forgot the boogy man.

I mean thats a great buzz word "weaponized internet" , But I think my AVG will do just fine and I am gonna stay online and not worry about the "terrorists" turning my Computer into a gun... One can only do so much online and if you can shut down a major system over the net then its most likely that it would be done directly with out utilizing other folks computers where the average Joe blow could go "WHATS THIS THING IN MY SYSTEM FILE?" Hmmmmmm I wonder.

Maybe to suggest that we're at danger of a "weaponized internet" being created is a little extreme however what you need to realise is just how easily the internet and our computers could be used against us.

Traffic lights, waste management systems, computers controlling the national grid, nuclear power stations ...etc are all controlled by computers at some point; if terrorist's or a foreign nation could access these systems then we would seriously be in trouble.

It's definately possible in my oppinion to cripple a country by attacking it's telecommunications and IT infrastructure.

With regards to the internet, think about how many people now use it. Think about online banking, social networking, instant messaging - more and more of our personal lifes are available online to anyone with a little bit of technical know how.

It probably is unlikely that an individual would be targeted specifically by a terrorist group or foreign nation however there's plenty of criminals, hackers, crackers, phisher's, spammers to protect oneself from.

Everyone who use's the internet should have basic knowledge of internet security and how to protect their own personal details.

With regards to the war scenario imagine if you controlled your enemies computers, every computer for example. You could stop their power, traffic, bank's, gas etc

I'll admit that scenario is a little exaggerated but mark my words, slowly but surely we're going to see an increase in cyber attacks over the coming years.

These attacks will become more frequent and more severe, I honestly believe that in my lifetime I will see a global computer security attack/disaster.

reply to post by Death_Kron


Lets play into our worst fears on a logical level.

Lets say China's military cyber warfare division launches an assault on all our accessible systems.

Is it likely they will be sending us Email scams meant to take over our hard drives, OR is it much more likely that they would just take over our electric grids and change the passwords and then set about to overloading our nuclear reactors while simultaneously routing our tactile nukes to their control?

I mean why bother taking over our personal computers when they could just turn off our electricity? Much more effective control wouldn't you agree?

Error programs in servers can be fixed but only if the server is plugged in.

This whole "weaponized internet" thing sounds like fear mongering science fiction to me... The kind I would hear about on Fox News, know what I mean?

reply to post by titorite


Yeah I see what your saying entirely, like I said I really doubt an individual like me or you would have our computers specifically targeted.

The obvious prize would be, as you said, a nations nuclear reactors or the power grid.

What I was trying to say is that whilst an individual's computer wouldn't be targeted the principle of the OP is still correct - computers being turned against us.

The other thing I was trying to say is the fact that there are groups of criminals, terrorists's who do use our computers against us and steal our identity's/money online and everyone should have a basic knowledge of internet security to help prevent this.


[edit on 16/6/09 by Death_Kron]

reply to post by Death_Kron


Ok I feel you. And yeah everyone should have some sort of AVG...that and enough common sense to put the Nigerian Inheritance emails into the trash.

Hahahahaha!

Called it again btw...

North Korea lol just a few weeks later

hardly any stars and flags... siiiiiiiiiigh

You know they urmmmm probably are using our computers to do this mostly....

anyway...

whatever