information theft!! Do I need a firewall???

[whadadeel]

I have had personal and credit information stolen and used after using credit cards online. I suspect that the information is being hacked or grabbed somehow. I have no clue how this works. Recently I have networked my 2 computers and connect to the internet through one modem... I am also concerned about the information on both linked computers....should I be???
Do I need a firewall and will this interfere with using morpheous for example?
I do not use autofill applications for personal information anylonger..would this help anyway?

Please Help!!

[srjudoz]

if you have a dial-up connection I wouldnt that you would need a firewall; but if you are connected by cable/dsl then you would probablly want it on your system because your always connected and people can hack at anytime. I think they might even be able to get on when the computer is off??

[DrZaius]

Hi whadadeel,

There are only two ways I can think of that someone can get your CC number:

This person has hacked into the CC database of the online store from which you bought stuff. Nothing can really be done to prevent this on your end, other than making sure that the store you use has some sort of protection (secure pages, doesn't store your number, etc.)
Someone has put a trojan in your system either trough a file you downloaded (maybe through Morpheus) or an email attachment you opened. Through this trojan someone can find out alot about you and your system, and they can even log your keystrokes. So, if you went to a site and entered your name, address, CC number... they are able to see it on their screen. A firewall can protect your against this because it will only allow certain communication in/out of your system, thus "blocking" the trojan from communicating with the hacker.

So, yes, I would recommend using a firewall. And just be careful in general: make sure the stores your buy stuff from has secrure pages and has a good rating, and don't open attachments or .EXEs downloaded off of Morpheus, these trojan can be hidden in any execulable file. Also, make sure you are running a good anti-virus program and keep it updated (take a look at The Cleaner (http://www.moosoft.com/) for getting rid of trojans).

Hope that helps.

[MaXimum SMOKE]

Couple of thoughts... or my two cents...

It doesn't hurt to get a credit card with a preset VERY LOW $ Limit,
and use it for your online purchases. You may find this easier to monitor.

If you use File sharing software, (personally I think it's a bad idea to do so),
make sure you know just what directories you are sharing, and what might get
put into those directories (by mistake) that You would NOT want shared.
There are horror stories out there about that, especially when more than one
person uses a given computer.

I even use a firewall on a dialup computer. They are what I call cheap insurance.
Besides, you may find it interesting to see what applications you have that are
"phoning home", when you connect.

B.T.W. Did you know that some companies store credit card info from their phone
sales on the same computer that stores their E-Commerce?

--- Just a couple of thoughts. ;)

[azscary]

If you have DSL or cable, go to this web site and test your internet presence. SHIELDS UP! (https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2)

I am invisible on the Internet even with DSL because the IP they get is my ISP and not mine. I also run Windows 2000 with all the security patches so none of my ports are open.

[morriswindgate]

Number one is to report it to the card issuer as soon as possible.
2. Disable Form complete in IE by going Tools>Internet Options>Content>Auto Complete. Uncheck all the boxes and clear passwords and forms.
3. After ordering online clear the cookies, temporary internet files, and the history file.
4. Keep virus definitions upto date.
5 Run a Trojan Horse scanner like Swat-It (Free) every once in a while.