Hacking Update, Safety for You!

After two days of trying to sort everything out, (it still isn't), I ran into a friend that is a very smart techie.  She is a certified Hacker herself, which she uses in her job to hack back at people that try to hack her companies website and/or computers.  So after telling her the brief synopsis of what happened and how I thought that it occurred she told me that it was most likely NOT my phone being hacked.  That is technically more difficult and most evil (my term, not hers) hackers go for the easy kill. 

My techie friend said that most likely they came through my computer.  I was shocked.  No way, I said, I am so careful.  She asked if my firewall is up.  If it is not, they can access your computer and see everything!  Of course, I had firewalls.  She said that having two firewalls up is like having two locks on your door, most thieves won't bother going through two, but they will go through one.  It is apparently not that hard.  I came home and I did have two, windows firewall and my Norton Antivirus also had one.  She suggested ZoneAlarm Firewall which is free.  I put that on also.  So now I have three.  Bring it on evil hackers.  On second thought...don't. 

When I got home and started talking to Mike I gasped.  It was HIS computer!  I had just used his in the last week to check my email.  And he doesn't keep his laptop from work current.  No antivirus and only one firewall-which the definitions were not up to date.  AAAGGGGHHHH!  Mike said, "Ooops!"  So I spent the next hour or two downloading the free Norton Antivirus from our Comcast account, updating and scheduling automatic updates for his windows firewall and then installing the ZoneAlarm firewall too.  My friend will be coming over later this week to hack back at the person(s) that did this to us and get back at him.  In a very legal way of REPORTING them to the POLICE.  Jerk(s). 

She is also going to help me get encryption for my computer passwords, because did you know that there is also software out there that they can put on your computer to record all of your keystrokes, send them to themselves as a text, and steal your passwords. I will pass that information along to you later also. 

Sleep well my friends.  Hopefully my pain will become your aid and protection.

Oh, and don't use your husbands computer if it isn't protected. 

I've been hacked...

I am really careful with my electronic information. I really am careful not to fall for scams (I apparently have inherited 45 million dollars thus far from some lawyer in Nigeria), click on links that my friends send me that seem suspect (as in they are for things that they would never send to me because of the content and somebody seems to have hacked their email). But I never thought that it could happen to ME!

Yesterday morning as I am getting ready to leave and take the kids to school I get a call from a friend asking me where I was right now. "Home," I responded. "Okay, someone has hacked into your Facebook account and is chatting with people telling them you are in London (I wish), were robbed, Mike's arm is broken and you need them to wire money." AHHHH! I was horrified.

First, I hardly ever post on Facebook. I am much more likely to comment on other people's posts. Second, I never have my chat enabled, I would rather call and chat or text with people. Third, I have trouble asking anybody for money, even when it is for a good cause, let alone (heaven help me) for myself. (I have no problem giving to good causes) It would have to be a very bitter pill I had swallowed for me to be chatting people up for money on Facebook. No matter what the situation. There are other venues to go through.

Ironically, right before my friend called, my Facebook account wouldn't load to my phone. I had just seen that, but thought, oh, it is having issues. NO! It was hijacked by a really mean person (there are stronger words, but I digress). I got on Mike's Facebook and told them where they could take there business and to stop doing what they were doing when they promptly un-friended and blocked Mike. (How rude to do that to "their" husband). Then I found out that my email was hijacked too, (oh, that is why it wouldn't authenticate on my phone either) when another friend had called and let me know that they had started to use my email contact list. You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Let me tell you how hard it has been to get control of that back. Still working on it.

Let me just say that I am learning a lesson here. First of all, don't judge others when they get hacked. Not that they did, I was just dumbfounded at how it could happen. Secondly, have stronger passwords. Thirdly, and possibly most important for security, when you get a smart phone, be careful of what applications you download. I truly think that this is how I was finally compromised. Read what the applications can track and have access to before you allow it on. I deleted everything off of my phone that was not original and will slowly and carefully add things back on.

In conclusion, so far, to this horror story...I am truly sorry if you were asked for money from any source claiming it was me. I am also so grateful to all my friends from Kansas to Arizona to California and here that called, texted, and contacted Mike to let us know what was going on. To those that love me so much that they wanted to send money, I love that you love me that much. If you sent money (and I pray no one did)...I truly have NO idea where it is.