OT: Where can I download a Virus or three?

[Romulus68]

Funny story.....My friend (different girl) who knew little about computers got hacked by a friendly hacker! She had no firewalls or much of anything at the time.....He hacked in and started talking to her on Net messenger (I think). Here is the funny/cool part. He explained security and hacking then proceeded to download Anti-virus programs, spybots, firewalls, etc. He then installed them, ran them and cleaned up her system for her. He lastly told her how to activate the firewall and he would then disappear from her machine. It was most amusing, but VERY much true.

I think she is going to wipe the systems clean and reinstall everything. Most everything she does is web surfing and email. No gaming or working on the PC's, so its no biggee for her with no need to reinstall a bunch of stuff. After that its a matter of installing all the security software and checking her email to make sure nothing is getting forwarded.

Everyone, Thanks for the GREAT suggestions! I'll put some of that to work for myself, especially the wireless router issues.

[Azselendor]

I've heard of that, the hacker was doing as an experiment to demonstrate to people how insecure their systems were.

I suggested changing the Router's IP address as one more means of slowing the person down. A dedicated hacker will break down any defense you put up, but instead of your system falling to the hacker in 10 minutes, we can turn it into a few days.

Of course, the best security for a wireless system is to not use wireless

Edit- Forgot to add, if your router allows it, reduce the transmitter power. My router doesn't have that ability, but I know some do. If your router does you can limit it's broadcast range down to a 20-30 feet or so. A linksys WRT54GS, for example, has an effective range of about 150 feet or so which is far too large for the average home.

[Suicide Junkie]

Azselendor said:
I've heard of that, the hacker was doing as an experiment to demonstrate to people how insecure their systems were.

I have a story about this one guy who called the help line, complaining that his internet was slow.
He had gobs of ports active, and must have been swamped with spyware, viruses and junk...
But his techie "friend" had secured the system, so there was no way he could be infected with stuff...

It got escalated, of course, and half an hour later the boss came downstairs to relate the story.
Even after printing a test page remotely, he dosen't believe he's got any problems...
Sorry, you're beyond help until you get out of the denial stage.