| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| selfsufficientish |
Am I the victim of a hacker?Just tried to log onto ebay and instead of my name there was a markmook10 in the user name box. No one has been near my computer except me, I also noticed that my yahoo email had been sent to subscribe to some other site that I had not subscribe to.Does this mean I have been hacked? What can I do to stop it? Do I need to look for any spyware or anything? I run a mac using osx. I am reluctant to update my website until I know that I am not inidvertantly giving access to someone else. Am I being paranoid. Sorry for all the questions after not posting for a while but I don't know too much about this sort of thing. |
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| jema |
I would seriously reconsider from all angles the statement:
"No one has been near my computer except me" |
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| tahir |
No hassles Andy, hopefully someone that knows'll be along shortly | ||
| selfsufficientish |
cheers tahir.
Hmm I think I know what you are getting at Jema! |
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| jema |
Good, as the sympoms like another name in a form box, are not characteristics of hacking in my experience. So unlikely as it may seem a physical culprit is much more probable. |
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| dougal |
I'd agree with Jema.
OS X is pretty secure. You can make it more secure in various ways. 1/ Don't routinely use an admin account. Set up a 'user' account for daily use. 2/ Use a non-trivial admin password. Set up a simple password for the user account and disable auto log-in - so that casual physical access doesn't let people use the machine. 3/ Don't enable external connections and do ensure the firewall is turned on. 4/ Any time you install software, you might try to be disconnected from the net. And when you are asked for the admin password for the install, click the little triangle and check what is asking for the install permission. 5/ There exists a Mac rootkit - for obtaining admin (or root?) priviliges on your machine. However, I never heard of any way that it could be surreptitiously installed. 6/ The Mac OS (X) does seem (out of attempted niceness) to be open to Trojans - specifically applications masquerading as documents. But, if you run such a thing as a 'user' rather than an 'admin', it really can't do very much. I've also heard suggestions that there may be vulnerabilities with the (since updated) concept of allowing downloaded 'Dashboard Widgets' to be "trusted". So it is a good idea to keep up with Apple's security updates. 7/ eBay user ID info is stored in a cookie. I can't see how a different user ID cookie could get into *your* *browser's* preference files (not something relating to the computer in general) other than by someone running your browser. Now there *are* Mac 'remote control' programs (like Carbon Copy on the PC) such as Apple's Network Admin tool, and (cross-platform) Timbuktu. These all need client software installed before your machine can be remotely controlled. And you can watch the 'ghost' moving your mouse... And yes, used in a more limited fashion, these programs do allow the remote controller to watch over your shoulder - but they do let you know when its happening. 8/ There are useful shareware programs, like, for example Little Snitch - "Little Snitch is an application supervisor. It watches all running applications and brings up an alert panel when an application tries to establish a network connection." |
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| mark |
markmook10 is a someset ebay user. You can look at his recent ebay purchases here
http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=markmook10&items=-1&item=-1&de=off they might give you some clues as to who he is.. his last purchase was 1st Oct and he bought Bluetooth Keyboard for PDA & Smartphone, before that he bought HOLUX Car Cradle Mount GPS iPAQ hx2410 hx2750 2210 4150 if you like you can use ebay to contact him - ask who he is and why he was using your computer Mark |
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| selfsufficientish |
Good sound advice people thank you very much. | ||
| selfsufficientish |
I think I have found the problem, the gadgets got me thinking. I was being a bit overly paranoid, I realised that I have been off line for quite a few months and although no-one has been anywhere near my computer this time back on line they did months ago. The last time I used ebay and indeed was on-line.
I posted a similar message on my own forum and was told that markmook lives in Bath. I know one mark who was tinkering with my computer and is a good mate of mine, Doh. Although I am definetly going to stop using my admin account for everything. Do feel like a bit of an idiot, but hey I learnt something. So cheers again. |
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| jema |
Happens to the best of us, and at least you have fully cleared it up, by figuring it out and reporting back.
I deal with people daily in my business who will insist to the bitter end that my stuff has a problem, when in fact I know they have fixed their own errors and are just too lame to want to admit a mistake 
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| Treacodactyl |
Would it be worth us edditing out the wrongly accused name in this thread or does no one mind?
Glad you have the problem sorted . 
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| selfsufficientish |
His garden is just gravel and he loves all things petrol. I think we are safe 
I will no doubt tell him next time anyway, shall just be a source of amusment. But cheers for the offer of the edit. |
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| tawny owl |
Good thing he wasn't called fluffybunnyslippers or some such, eh? |