help someone is hacking my commputer

[2008bangkok]

On the topic of passwords - most people fall into one or both of the most common traps:

• using an easy to remember password (such as "password" or 123456789)
• using the same password for every site

A more elegant solution goes something like this:

Pick a song that you will never get out of your head. The example I will use here is "If" by Bread. Write down the first letters of a line in the song-

If a Picture Paints a Thousand Words, then why can't I paint you?

Most sites also require a mix of numbers and letters, upper and lower case so a thousand can become 1000 or 10Oo or any combination

If the password formula permits symbols (many don't) "then" can become >

If you are srsly n2 txt "why" can become y and "you" can become u

so you base password becomes IaPP10OoW>YcIpU

now you can customize it for each website with 1,2 or 3 letters

so your Thai Visa password might be IaPP10OoW>YcIpUTv

your Hotmail password might be IaPP10OoW>YcIpUHm

Your Bank of America password might be IaPP10OoW>YcIpUBa

You will never forget your password, each one will be different and (unless someone knows your favourite song and this technique) knowing your wife's birthday will never mean a hacker can get you again.

Bit of hassle that it, best to generate random secure passwords using last pass coupled with 2 factor authentication on lastpass, means you can create very strong passwords that you dot need to remember and them to login to lastpass to aceess the strong p/w you need to know thr lastpass p/w and grt a code from your phone

[schnazzy]

you don't need a random cryptographically secure password.

Don't get me wrong, if that's what you do then great and using keepass or whatever system to store those passwords so you can actually use them, good too. above 12 characters with extended character set is good enough today. I just use made up phrases, with extended character and 14+. Honestly if you need more than this, you need 2-factor. Most break-ins don't happen due to brute forcing the password. It is because one of the following:

exploit in code of the server

finding an unencrypted pw file

spear phishing - add exploit

yes if you use a crappy 5 character password for every site, when one gets hacked ( and you don't know immediately ), then everything you have is exploitable.

different password for each site/system!

change the passwords on a cadence

[Jaggg88]

Get a Mac and an iPhone, activate all two-steps authorizations in gmail, hotmail. Easy life.

Yeah cause Macs never get virus right? Still believe that?

perpetuating the Apple myth - I'll download his nude pics from icloud like all the celebs. Apple products are no more secure than android or windows devices.

[schnazzy]

how did we get on Mac vs PC. Leave the Mac guys alone! (and vice versa). Are comparable parts/performance cheaper with a dell/hp/Lenovo than a Mac? Yes. Does Apple sometimes use better materials for their cases? YES! Does Apple have probably the best design team in end user computing? YES (and for quite a while). Do they have an excellent following dreamed up by Guy and Steve? YES!!

Is a Mac better than a PC or vice versa? that depends. Just on a consumer (not enterprise level) the Macs sure are pretty and perform well too. People like them, they got used to them, the underlying kernel is of quality.

Is a Mac more secure? Theoretically no way to know. The OS for Windows and Mac (today) are quite good. The applications (adobe, IE, Firefox, SSH, etc. are not completely vetted). My old 486dx running dos 6.2 is way less likely to get hacked than a Mac (or Windows). An altair would be even less sol. There is something to be said about marketplace and energy focused on the dominant products.

The reality is that there are 10's of millions of lines of code in an OS and they are developed by some great and not so great (read cheap overworked labor). Add all the new and cool features to market. There will be security holes.

Personally my computer is a calculator to me. I use it to work. Sometimes play (like posting this). It isn't my identity. I could give a isht less if (for PC) it were an HP/Dell/Lenovo. As for Apple, it is a very good thing that they own the hardware too for compatibility reasons but with the HW monopoly, they take a bit more profit which means.... it costs more for similar specs. Apple doesn't make processors or RAM etc. and neither do the PC makers. It's all just a grouping of parts. Some companies use crappy parts and some use better. Apple uses better. Dell/HP in their business line and precision (dell) line do similarly to Apple.

This is an endless topic and zealots from either camp can nit pick this isht to death.

[TuskegeeBen]

What is your xgf hacking into? You computer, or your email accounts? Be specific, PLEASE!

[TuskegeeBen]

how did we get on Mac vs PC. Leave the Mac guys alone! (and vice versa). Are comparable parts/performance cheaper with a dell/hp/Lenovo than a Mac? Yes. Does Apple sometimes use better materials for their cases? YES! Does Apple have probably the best design team in end user computing? YES (and for quite a while). Do they have an excellent following dreamed up by Guy and Steve? YES!!

Is a Mac better than a PC or vice versa? that depends. Just on a consumer (not enterprise level) the Macs sure are pretty and perform well too. People like them, they got used to them, the underlying kernel is of quality.

Is a Mac more secure? Theoretically no way to know. The OS for Windows and Mac (today) are quite good. The applications (adobe, IE, Firefox, SSH, etc. are not completely vetted). My old 486dx running dos 6.2 is way less likely to get hacked than a Mac (or Windows). An altair would be even less sol. There is something to be said about marketplace and energy focused on the dominant products.

The reality is that there are 10's of millions of lines of code in an OS and they are developed by some great and not so great (read cheap overworked labor). Add all the new and cool features to market. There will be security holes.

Personally my computer is a calculator to me. I use it to work. Sometimes play (like posting this). It isn't my identity. I could give a isht less if (for PC) it were an HP/Dell/Lenovo. As for Apple, it is a very good thing that they own the hardware too for compatibility reasons but with the HW monopoly, they take a bit more profit which means.... it costs more for similar specs. Apple doesn't make processors or RAM etc. and neither do the PC makers. It's all just a grouping of parts. Some companies use crappy parts and some use better. Apple uses better. Dell/HP in their business line and precision (dell) line do similarly to Apple.

This is an endless topic and zealots from either camp can nit pick this isht to death.

Welcome to the TV expat forum Many of the other posting blokes actually live 75% of their LOS lives, right here, posting comments on every single OP thread, regardless of the topic! The LS, you gotta love it.

Edited October 29, 2014 by TuskegeeBen

[arizonamike74]

The entire Mac vs PC thing is irrelevant to the OP. You can get your email hacked regardless of which operating system you use on your laptop because your email is stored on a server(s) on the internet so it is extremely vulnerable. I use nothing but alpha-numeric, upper and lower case passwords and I had my GMAIL account hacked 2x in a week. I went into my Google settings and enabled 2-step verification - this means that the first time you try to access your gmail from a new computer/laptop/ipad whatever, it will send a text message to your cell phone with a six digit number that you have to enter after you entered your password to verify that you are who you say you are. Since then I've had zero hacks. After you've logged into a new computer once and used the 2-step then GMAIL stores a cookie on your computer so it will remember your computer and not require you to use the text message the next time you log in from this computer (or until you clear your cookies). You may also have some type of spyware on your computer that is allowing your ex to track your passwords so the safest thing to do is:

1) Take your computer to a reputable shop and have them backup your data, format your hard drive (insist that they perform a low level format), reinstall Windows, and reinstall your applications (Word, etc. - you'll need the CDs for this).

2) Purchase and install a good antivirus/antimalware/antispyware product. I really like Webroot Internet Security Complete as I've been using it on 5 computers and it has done a great job where other products I have tried have failed.

3) Change your password(s) to something random alpha-numeric, with upper and lower case letters and a special character at least 8 digits long. An example: Boga4936$ .

4) Enable 2-step authentication on all your important accounts (email, bank sites, etc.).

I've been doing this since the Commodore 64 was popular and floppy disks were not only current technology, they were still floppy! I wish there was an easy fix like "just buy a MAC", but everything, even smart phones, are vulnerable now to spyware. Usually it comes in the form of "free" software you download but it can come from web sites, emails, etc.. but if someone has physical access to your device there is little you can do other than format and start over after the fact. However, I do like the Chromebook for Google users since it essentially stores everything in the cloud and can be hard reset to the way it was out of the box with a simple click of a button, but I'm sure that will get a whole new off-topic conversation started.

Good luck,

Michael

Edited October 29, 2014 by arizonamike74

[jacko45k]

Get a Mac and an iPhone, activate all two-steps authorizations in gmail, hotmail. Easy life.

Yeah cause Macs never get virus right? Still believe that?

And they are very cheap to buy........Apple lovers are a strange bunch.

[BKKdreaming]

I open unknown attachments now on my tablet , if it did get a virus somehow its easy to reinstall......

if you want to be parinoid then you also have to look at your router since all traffic goes thru it ,

and spy cameras etc that her brother may have "left " ,

then we have the tracking app on your phone........a GPS tracker on you car / bike

Have you thought of moving ?

[Zumteufel]

Get a Mac and an iPhone, activate all two-steps authorizations in gmail, hotmail. Easy life.

Yeah cause Macs never get virus right? Still believe that?

And they are very cheap to buy........Apple lovers are a strange bunch.

What I find strange is that computing seems to be the only area where you by certain individuals are considered an idiot if you decide to not to go for a discount solution. And that judgement is made by people who have no idea what they're talking about. Go figure.