Computer Hacking Problem

[Manuja]

First of all am not sure if this is the rite place to ask this question, so if its not i req the mods to move it to right place

now here is the problem, recently my pc was hacked by someone and due to which some of my passwords were changed and i havnt been able to get em back after that i formatted, instaalled a clean copy of Vista, anyways that was past but i m worried that if it happend it cud happen again, i m aware one of the way is thru virus file, i want to know how can i b sure for this problem not to happen again:( knowing the person have my Ip and can still attempt to hack my system and cud b successful. How can i prevent anyone from hacking me
Please help me out, thanz in advance

[Spookster]

How do you connect to the Internet? Dialup? Cable Modem? Do you have a router? Wired or wireless connection? Use Firefox to surf the web instead of IE. Less chance of accidental trojans. Get some decent antivirus. AVG is great and free.

[_Aerospace_Eng_]

I prefer Comodo Internet Security (http://www.comodo.com/) which is pretty good and free as well.

[ohgod]

well first of all make sure you don't have a blank Administrator password or something (assuming you're on Windows). i can't even begin to count the number of times I've seen that.

anyway, I also use AVG. with it i use spybot search and destroy (which if i'm reading correctly on the comodo site accomplishes pretty much the same thing as their security suite). i love not only the immunization against known malware... but the registry agent is a fantastic tool. basically if someone were tinkering it would let you know and require your approval.

[Manuja]

How do you connect to the Internet? Dialup? Cable Modem? Do you have a router? Wired or wireless connection? Use Firefox to surf the web instead of IE. Less chance of accidental trojans. Get some decent antivirus. AVG is great and free.

I Have a cable modem and use netgear wireless router, i use firefox and have kasperesky internet security,, everything gud enough rite?

I prefer Comodo Internet Security (http://www.comodo.com/) which is pretty good and free as well.
i m using kasperesky firewall, u think comodo firewall wud b better option?

well first of all make sure you don't have a blank Administrator password or something (assuming you're on Windows). i can't even begin to count the number of times I've seen that.

anyway, I also use AVG. with it i use spybot search and destroy (which if i'm reading correctly on the comodo site accomplishes pretty much the same thing as their security suite). i love not only the immunization against known malware... but the registry agent is a fantastic tool. basically if someone were tinkering it would let you know and require your approval.

i have kaspersky internet security but didnt dl spybot search and destroy, i wud do that, all are recomennding comodo is that the best firewall over kaspersky ,norton and so on???

[Spookster]

Your netgear wireless router will likely have some sort of firewall (NAT, SPI) protection as most wireless routers do. You can also implement stronger security by enabling and configuring some of the additional security features provided in the router such as don't broadcast your SSID, ignore internet ping requests, use MAC address access control meaning only your PC can access your wireless network. Also use the strongest encryption mode that your PC's wireless adapter will support (ie WPA,WPA2) and use a strong passphrase with it.

[Manuja]

Your netgear wireless router will likely have some sort of firewall (NAT, SPI) protection as most wireless routers do. You can also implement stronger security by enabling and configuring some of the additional security features provided in the router such as don't broadcast your SSID, ignore internet ping requests, use MAC address access control meaning only your PC can access your wireless network. Also use the strongest encryption mode that your PC's wireless adapter will support (ie WPA,WPA2) and use a strong passphrase with it.

Bro Wud U be Kind Enough To tell me how exactly u do that, am not sure about it, though i have Wpa passphrase but not sure about rest, so kindly guide me if u can:)

[Spookster]

Assuming netgear uses the same interface for all their routers you can find the access control list under advanced wireless settings Setup Access List. You just need the Mac address of your PC and add it to the list and turn the control on.

Under WAN settings you'll find the NAT, SPI controls. They should be on by default. You'll also find the option to respond to internet pings here. Disable that.

[will]

Yeah I agree its your Netgear setting.
My un-educated guess is you have an un-secured network on your wireless Netgear internet connection
and a good neighbor of yours has changed your sharing settings and is working your computer over for kicks.
I'm not entirely sure on that as I'm not an expert in that area.
I'd do that above and get it secured.
If you google netgear unsecured wireless network hack there is tons of results.
- Here is one that I saw and found interesting. -
http://www.astahost.com/info.php/what-risks-unsecure-wireless-networks_t11339.html

[darkangel11909]

you mentioned that the person might have your ip address, if the attack came from the internet, your ip changes every so often because of dhcp. your anti-virus and firewall are fine imo but having dual firewalls could create problems when something gets blocked, might take a while to trouble shoot what is going on.

in your router, just look for wireless settings and it should be there. if you dont know how to log into your router, 192.168.1.1 is usually the default and the password is probably along the lines of password or password1, or maybe even nothing. also, try to see if your remote admin is turned off. pretty sure it off by default but if someone turned it on, they could be getting in there.

so all in all, with your router, change the password to log in to your router to more than 6 characters using upper and lower case and using numbers(that would be a nice password to brute force), and do as what was said before about changing to a wpa or wpa2 password for wireless access and the mac filtering.

advice for the virus thing, you can try to play with your firewall to where only the essential ports are open to lock your computer down, like 80 and 43 and so on. most viruses that open ports to connect to other devices use high port numbers.

hope some of this is of help to you.

[spottydog]

Seems to me that most people try closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Let me just say that if you undertake "risky" activities on the internet, it's not a matter of "if" you will get a virus but "when".
Let's face it, if you don't surf for porn, go to malicious websites (usually in the form of free screensavers, game cheats and hacks, pirate software etc), use peer to peer, and you don't open email attachments you shouldn't, and provided you keep up with security patches and updates, you just won't get a virus in the 1st place.
But telling people not to do those things is like cutting off their right arm!!!
Apart from that, all the previous suggestions are valid.
AVG, Spybot, one that I like is SuperAntispyware, Spyware Doctor.
Remember though, prevention is better than cure.