Privacy Issue on Internet

[twister]

Hi Guys,

Iam quiet sure that my internet activity in been watched but i dont how to check. I have Norton 360 and it scans my laptop regularly but it doesnt show any kind of intrusion. Pls help if you know any kind of tool which can help to detect it.

Many Thanks

[wimiadmin]

Do you mean someone is physically coming to your computer and checking the logs or do you think someone is getting in to your laptop via the internet and checking your history?

[twister]

Originally Posted by wimiadmin

Do you mean someone is physically coming to your computer and checking the logs or do you think someone is getting in to your laptop via the internet and checking your history?

Its through internet coz my laptop is always at home and there is no way anyone can do it physically.

[wimiadmin]

You'll need to run something like Hijack This as well as Spybot S & D

Norton 360 should do a good job with the firewall portion, but if you approved the program that scans the logs then 360 is not protecting you.

[twister]

Originally Posted by wimiadmin

You'll need to run something like Hijack This as well as Spybot S & D

Norton 360 should do a good job with the firewall portion, but if you approved the program that scans the logs then 360 is not protecting you.

Thanks a lot...i will try and come back to you.

[twister]

Originally Posted by wimiadmin

You'll need to run something like Hijack This as well as Spybot S & D

Norton 360 should do a good job with the firewall portion, but if you approved the program that scans the logs then 360 is not protecting you.

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your suggestion....i ran both the programmes and i found 3 tracking cookies (one from Double Click and 2 from Mediaplex) which i deleted by using spybot. I also used hijack this which gave me a report but it was difficult to interpret. Is there any tool available for IP Address and URL as these can be used to track the internet activity or just one tool which is the mother of all.

Thanks

[wimiadmin]

I agree with Hijack This being a little tough to interpret.

Unfortunately, I haven't found one program that does it all. I've always had to run multiple programs to catch everything.

As I type this, I remembered there's also CCleaner

Those cookies you found and deleted are not indicative of a hacked computer that's had their privacy compromised.

[twister]

Originally Posted by wimiadmin

I agree with Hijack This being a little tough to interpret.

Unfortunately, I haven't found one program that does it all. I've always had to run multiple programs to catch everything.

As I type this, I remembered there's also CCleaner

Those cookies you found and deleted are not indicative of a hacked computer that's had their privacy compromised.

Yeah i know mostly every computer has those cookies but iam 100% sure that my internet activity is been watched....what would you do if you were me? Iam sorry if iam nagging you with my endless questions but i just want to get to bottom of it.

[wimiadmin]

If you think it's because of the network you're on, I'd use a different network.

If you feel someone has installed malicious software, then I'd dig until I got everything uninstalled and then be very cautious as to what got installed in the future.

[twister]

Originally Posted by wimiadmin

If you think it's because of the network you're on, I'd use a different network.

If you feel someone has installed malicious software, then I'd dig until I got everything uninstalled and then be very cautious as to what got installed in the future.

The only problem is installing programmes to clean up makes the computer slow and starts to freez frequently and thats why i have to uninstall those two programmes yesterday. Is there any solution to this? Thanks.....

[privacyadvoc]

This is mostly juvenile BS twister don't listen to these guys! Either they believe what they are saying, and honestly don't really know what they are talking about, or they're misleading you intentionally. Take your pick, which is worse??

There are ways to help, but not what is recommended in these posts. The ONLY way to be certain, is

1. Shred, and I mean SHRED, your hardrive. plain and simple. Use a program like Wipedrive and shred it 7 times the DOD(dept. of defense) standard and while doing this, search for a hidden partition!. If someone good enough, put something insidious on your computer, chances are you will never ever find it, and if you did, and "fixed it", they would most likely put it right back! Shred everything, the whole drive, and clean install windows. If you just delete, and don't shred, the files would still be there, and could potentially still infect. Clean install only!

2. If you suspect they are watching your network, the best way is (other than using someone else's network entirely, like wifi) is to use an encrypted vpn. There are many services available online for this and though not perfect, will undoubtedly help.

3. Flash your bios! It is possible to install tracking programs into the actual bios of a system, rendering inneffective any clean install of windows, no matter how many times you do it, or shred your drives. Bios is stored on the chip itself, when you reinstall, flash your bios!! Go to your pc manufacturer's website, and download and install the latest version. Then you will be reasonably clean.

4. After shredding and clean install and flashing your bios, install your system monitors, including your antivirus, adaware, hijackthis... etc., and definately, definately, get a program that watches for probes, udp and tcp etc.. There are many good ones here securityfocus.com, or of the majors, I recommend Zonealarm.

5. Keep your active protections going, and scan everyday or when you think you need it. The next best idea is to do a nice system image backup everyweek, and you can revert to this when you think you've become infected.

remember, you traffic is never anonymous to anyone who really wants to find it or locate it's source, and the best way is to change your source. A great option is to buy a new pc (used is fine), clean install, follow the steps above, and sit in your car parked outside an apartment complex with lots of free wifi available, and no cameras on the building or surrounding streets. Oh, and always remember the satellites above could still find you easily if they wanted to.

hope this actually helps, in comparison to the stuff written here.

[wimiadmin]

This is mostly juvenile BS twister don't listen to these guys! Either they believe what they are saying, and honestly don't really know what they are talking about, or they're misleading you intentionally. Take your pick, which is worse??

Jeez! Talk about paranoid. At no time has twister said he's got classified information on his computer and he's afraid it'll be compromised. He seems like an average every day internet user that wants to keep his identity and surfing habits safe. And I agree, it's absolutely no one's business where you surf or what you put on your computer. As long as the network and equipment you are using isn't your employers.

@Twister, with more programs installed that are running in the background, your computer is definitely going to slow down. But in this case, you're going to have to take the good with the bad. If you want to protect yourself, PrivacyAdvoc does offer good advice, although a little extreme in my opinion, but he too says the programs need to run in the background simply to alert you of software trying to probe your computer.

[twister]

Guys thanks a lot for your avdvice and i will definately act on it. But again its a temproary solution, what if you want to know the identity of people who are dooing it to you?

[wimiadmin]

TCPView is a great little program that will tell who is connected to you and their IP address. This might be a good place to start unless malicious software is sending your log files out....then it'll probably only show you connecting to your mail server.