should there be 10 running processes? (from drivers alone)

[TrainTrackHack]

"If a malicious program changes your browser's home page, it's said to be hijacked, but there is nothing malicious about having a changed home page in itself. Also, there hijacks definitely have been around for a while."
then it must be "new", an advanced level hcker...
because my home page has NOT been changing. it is an OPEN doorway access to my computer for a hcker to do what ever they want.

What makes you think you have an "open doorway" to your computer? What makes you think there's any advanced hacking going on? I was using the browser home page just as an example; these types of hijacks are simply modified settings, such as changing your browser home page to a bogus search site or indeed screwing around with start menu settings.

"it indeed was a malicious program...if none of your programs detected anything"
a security program detected it.

If you're talking about the pum startmenu hijack, it simply detected the modified setting, not a virus. What I mean is that if no malicious program has been detected, you're most likely alright.

I repeat, the pum startmenu hijack is bening and not worth panicking over; it is most definitely not an advanced hack. It's entirely possible that the setting was changed by yourself or a legitimate program, and it's coming up as a false alarm.

"create yourself a normal user account."
i only have 1 account on the computer.

"If you use administrator as your regular login, you might as well assume that you either are or are soon going to be infected."
how?

what is the difference between a "normal account" and an admin? they are the same thing...

If you have only 1 account, it's most likely admin.

Admin account has full access to the system, therefore all programs running as admin can do whatever they please. This, of course means that any malicious code running on your system is free to put itself where it wants to, modify any system processes it likes, and so on. You should always use a normal user account, because programs running under such accounts have limited access to system internals and won't be able to change stuff around, and only use admin account for installing new software or changing system settings. You can create yourself a normal account in control panel, or just create an empty admin account and change yours to a normal one (I think the place was called Users, User Accounts or something to that effect?) Using normal user account is how you prevent most infections (and the damage they can do if you do get infected.)

 

[Captain Kirk]

spirit hey's'a there bro,

i got a "update" that was UNSIGNED.

the email site is not encrypted like other sites.

installed programs and bad web sites aren't the only ways they can get in...

i heard that some programs that are running processes can have the SAME name as the actual real process, but be a different program altogether.
how can you tell the difference, or when this is happening?

hi ya hackapelite,

"What makes you think you have an "open doorway" to your computer?"
because they said that if you haven't used an "irc client" then someone has been in your computer.
i haven't played any multiplayer games in this install.

i have never seen anything like this.
something that is undetectable like this is more advanced than anything that i have seen before.

the only reason that it may not have done anything worse or more damaging to me is because by pure luck (and not with a program, just intuition and seeing something strange), i caught it within a couple of hours to one half day and now do not use that computer to go on the internet. if i had given it the opportunity, it could've done some serious damage. or was to be used for a zombie network or for spying or something. i really don't want to take the chance for identiy theft. it only takes one time...

what steps can i do to prevent a hcker from getting in?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

admin? but if a hcker was inside, couldn't they simply switch from admin to normal, right? it doesn't sound like it would be that difficult to do.
unless your just talking about weeding out unintelligent mindless programs that are not hand guided by a hcker.

--cAptain KIrk
UNknown mYSTeRies

 

[TrainTrackHack]

i got a "update" that was UNSIGNED.

Update for what? Did you install it?

the email site is not encrypted like other sites.

What email site is that? The worst thing that can happen from using dodgy e-mail sites is that they'll read your messages and grab your password.

installed programs and bad web sites aren't the only ways they can get in...

What other ways are you thinking of?

"What makes you think you have an "open doorway" to your computer?"
because they said that if you haven't used an "irc client" then someone has been in your computer.
i haven't played any multiplayer games in this install.

Who says that?

i have never seen anything like this.
something that is undetectable like this is more advanced than anything that i have seen before.

the only reason that it may not have done anything worse or more damaging to me is because by pure luck (and not with a program, just intuition and seeing something strange), i caught it within a couple of hours to one half day and now do not use that computer to go on the internet. if i had given it the opportunity, it could've done some serious damage. or was to be used for a zombie network or for spying or something. i really don't want to take the chance for identiy theft. it only takes one time...

Did it already do something damaging? This sounds like a lot of speculation... if it really was that advanced, there's no chance you would have caught it. And I repeat,

admin? but if a hcker was inside, couldn't they simply switch from admin to normal, right? it doesn't sound like it would be that difficult to do.
unless your just talking about weeding out unintelligent mindless programs that are not hand guided by a hcker.

What do you mean? A program can't just switch from "admin to normal" or the other way around (I assume you mean the other way around because no virus would switch from admin to a less privileged account since they already can do whatever they like.) If you're on a normal user account, no program can run under any other user's permissions or privileges without your explicit permission. Using normal accounts is a standard measure against malware, it's not just to protect you from some "mindless" programs.

Do you think that someone is actually trying to hack into your computer?

what steps can i do to prevent a hcker from getting in?

Do not use admin account for anything except administration tasks.
Do not install dodgy software.
Do not visit dodgy websites.

That's it really.

If you're convinced that you're infected, just reformat and reinstall already like someone said before.

 

[spirit]

I give up with this thread. We're just going round in circles. As said many times before, reformat and reinstall - and if you're that paranoid don't ever connect to the internet again. Problem solved!

 

[johnb35]

OK, this thread has been beat to death. I'm closing it.