Hacking Threats

[Kingy]

Hey Guys

Somebody who I met over the internet in a chat room has said he has my IP address and is threatening to hack my computer. He is also passing the IP address round internet forums so other people can log into my computer.

I currently run the free version of Zone Alarm Firewall, would this be enough to protect?

Any help will be appreciated

John

[Harry]

No. It only has limited protection. And besides that Hacking has become very legitimized. Bosses want to know what their employees are up to and parents want to know what their children are doing and the FBI wants to know what you are up to if you are a suspect. So under this guise and business profit, some very powerful hacking tools have been developed. And is now completely legal to obtain such programs.

For example, there is a completely legal program called Ispy Now which will allow someone to do many things including monitor your computer from their computer even if they were in China. They promote it as a legitimate way for parents to keep an eye on their children from work or whereever because of all the fears of child predators. So there is lots of incentive out there to break any firewall you can dream of. And they even offer a free trial at:

http://www.surveyor.com/products/ispy/download.htm

[Kingy]

Thanks for link though Harry

[morriswindgate]

Having your IP address doesn't mean that he has enough knowledge to do anything with it. It is easy to get IP addresses, just like it is easy to get mailing addresses. Just run your firewall and an upto date Anti-Virus program. Be careful opening e-mail attachments and every once in a while run spyware cleaners like Spybot and Trojan cleaners. Also be aware of what processes are running on your computer as well as the running tasks.

[Kingy]

Thats what I thought.

Also i demanded for him to tell me what my IP address was (i already know it) but he kept changing the subject, maybe he is just trying to put the frighteners in me?

[courto]

maybe he is just trying to put the frighteners in me?

I would bet on it, "trying" being the operative word.
Are you running zone alarm on high security? This would make you appear invisible. As an added precaution does your ISP provide a dynamic IP address? I assume you have some form of broadband connection, so you might look into that and consider changing it anyway.

[Kingy]

Thanks guys;

How do I find info for this Dynamic IP thing?

Also - my Firewall keeps "locking up" my computer, and I have to keep restarting - does this mean that my computer is being hacked into? It has only happened once or twice before, but has happened 5 times in less than an hour today.

Many Thanks

Kingy

[edge345]

Are you on dialup or highspeed internet.
Most dialup internets re-assign a different ip every time you log on and off the net. (with a system reset)

If you want to check what port are open to the world go here and check them. just click on shieldsup after that you can then test your ports.
http://grc.com/default.htm


I use a Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch with built-in hardware protection. But nothing is bullet proof....

As in your case i would not worry about the person that thinks he or she has your ip because any good haccker would not tell you what he or she is up to....

[jackjones]

Just forget about the guy. The guy is a loser and knows jack **** about networking and system penetration and is about as much of a threat to you as a three year old with a lollypop.

[Trent Steel]

If he was truly to hack your computer, he would. He would not tell that he is going to, that allows you to prepare yourself.

[Force Flow]

I agree. It sounds like he's just full of hot air. If he knew how to do it, he would do it without warning.

[courto]

Kingy,
I would recommend you talk to your Internet Service Provider about your IP address. Secondly, you say your firewall is locking up your computer? I would have a good look at what is going on there, clean out all your temporary files, and make sure nothing is running in the background that you don't want running. Update your antivirus and run a scan.

[Harry]

Don't be so sure. I have some hacker friends and I would just love to invite some of you to see what this guy does so you could understand how insecure our systems really are. He has hundreds of hacking programs that make firewalls completely uiseless. Basically, there is no system that is immune. On top of that, he has never paid one penny for his isps. I've seen him log onto AOL, Earthlink, AT&T and numerous other ISPS. What he does is a bloody joke and he makes the rest of us look like complete idiots.

One place to begin to test your security is the following web site:

https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[Trent Steel]

Nice site Harry, aparently I don't exist.

[jackjones]

So basically he is your idol Harry and has you believing he has god like skills, lol. Newsflash, not paying for a service is theft and nothing to be proud of what so ever.

[Dan]

If I could just jump in here and add my 2cents.
first I thnk MWG has the most pertinent input...
next I agree with ff2k...hackers that can do what your "aquaintance" says he can do don't hang out making idle threats in chatrooms. forums are for finding info, chat rooms are for trying to fluff up your ego.....
I once caught some one selling software online that was offered free by the author on his own site. I helped Visa catch him and they took his ability to use online vending away. He found out it was me and sent me a virus in an email....I deleted it before I opened it. My firewall caught him snooping around when I was online...stopped him. It takes a pretty special intent to get in...chances are this guy wants to think he can hack into your system and wants you to think it too.
Don't worry be happy....what do you have on your computer that's worth worrying about?? Back it up and get on with your life.
Better yet, forget about the chatrooms and GET a life.....