Cyber Attack

[josef]

I've recently been the party to a massive Cyber Attack. It's fairly stunning in it's complexity. I use store bought Mcafee suite. Anti Virus, Anti Worm, Multiple Firewalls etc. In simple words, I'm not an easy target. Somehow, they managed to rewrite my syytem Registry changing my Virus protection provider. Stunning to say the least. Almost totally by accident, I had a fresh backup on a removable hardrive or I would have been out of business for a very long time. I'm not possitive that my having posted the shortcut to Resperonics Pro 2.2 Card Reader Software and others had anything to do with it though I was descretely warned by private message that this was a distinct possibility and all my investigations lead me in that direction. Would I do it all over again, Yup. Anybody need the shortcut. Down but not out.

Josef

[JoyD.]

Josef,

Next time you buy a computer . . . I'd suggest you forget PC's and go with Apple iMac. No more virus, firewall, etc etc problems to worry about or buy! I FINALLY took my son's advice and converted from PC's to Apple about six years ago . . . and still can't believe the difference! So simple, direct, trouble-free, and fabulous customer service with the Apple Care Plan.

Try it, you'll never go back

Joy

[Tielman]

I've recently been the party to a massive Cyber Attack. It's fairly stunning in it's complexity. I use store bought Mcafee suite. Anti Virus, Anti Worm, Multiple Firewalls etc. In simple words, I'm not an easy target. Somehow, they managed to rewrite my syytem Registry changing my Virus protection provider. Stunning to say the least. Almost totally by accident, I had a fresh backup on a removable hardrive or I would have been out of business for a very long time. I'm not possitive that my having posted the shortcut to Resperonics Pro 2.2 Card Reader Software and others had anything to do with it though I was descretely warned by private message that this was a distinct possibility and all my investigations lead me in that direction. Would I do it all over again, Yup. Anybody need the shortcut. Down but not out. Josef

Joesf,

Part of my job is to defend against Cyber Attacks, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I know of hundreds of ways to infect a machine like yours. Just using McAfee (or Symantec, or xxx, or yyy) doesn't solve the issue.

Quick question, how many Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Flash player 0-day exploits are you aware of???

[akcpapguy]

I'm not possitive that my having posted the shortcut to Resperonics Pro 2.2 Card Reader Software and others had anything to do with it though I was descretely warned by private message that this was a distinct possibility and all my investigations lead me in that direction.
Josef

Are you saying that someone on the forum unleashed a cyber attack on you for posting the link to Encore 2.2 or are you implying that Respironics unleashed it on you for posting the link?

[dsm]

Josef & tielman are not making idle statements re PC vulnerability to virus attacks.

I too have what I consider the highest level of PC protection but consider myself at the mercy of todays sophisticated PC virii - funnily, as well as I was able to protect myself at home, it was a virus from work (that loaded itself onto a USB stick) that got onto my home network. Took me 2 days to clear all my machines (have several servers & notebooks). I have one PC that is behaving so strangely I am about to clear the C drive & start again.

My wife's Apple machines seem to be far less vulnerable.

The answer in the future will be to use something like an iPad where all the computing is in the 'cloud' (internet) & the protection gets left to Google etc:

DSM

[josef]

I'm not possitive that my having posted the shortcut to Resperonics Pro 2.2 Card Reader Software and others had anything to do with it though I was descretely warned by private message that this was a distinct possibility and all my investigations lead me in that direction.
Josef

Are you saying that someone on the forum unleashed a cyber attack on you for posting the link to Encore 2.2 or are you implying that Respironics unleashed it on you for posting the link?

Deffinitely not. I am saying that I don't believe it was a simple kid that did it. It was very professionally done. Had to be a real big kid and I was to be taught a lesson. Of course, I'm Bohemian, don't hear very well, can't read real well etc, etc. I'm quite willing to help anybody anytime. If you want a copy of the link, I will deffinitely sent it to you by PM. I intented it as a warning of the potential consequences of what the really big kids can do.

Josef

[FinceMgr]

Let me see if I have this straight. After multiple malware problems and multiple attempts at protecting yourself with multiple simultaneous products you claim to have been “cyber attacked” because of sharing links here, and yet you continue to so and welcome others to join you? Are you serious?
Anyone who wants Encore 2 can easily create an account at (removed by request) , log on and download the official version.
It would seem yes some people would be better off with an Apple.

I'm not possitive that my having posted the shortcut to Resperonics Pro 2.2 Card Reader Software and others had anything to do with it though I was descretely warned by private message that this was a distinct possibility and all my investigations lead me in that direction.
Josef

Are you saying that someone on the forum unleashed a cyber attack on you for posting the link to Encore 2.2 or are you implying that Respironics unleashed it on you for posting the link?

Deffinitely not. I am saying that I don't believe it was a simple kid that did it. It was very professionally done. Had to be a real big kid and I was to be taught a lesson. Of course, I'm Bohemian, don't hear very well, can't read real well etc, etc. I'm quite willing to help anybody anytime. If you want a copy of the link, I will deffinitely sent it to you by PM. I intented it as a warning of the potential consequences of what the really big kids can do.

Josef

[dsm]

Let me see if I have this straight. After multiple malware problems and multiple attempts at protecting yourself with multiple simultaneous products you claim to have been “cyber attacked” because of sharing links here, and yet you continue to so and welcome others to join you? Are you serious?
Anyone who wants Encore 2 can easily create an account at <censored> , log on and download the official version.
It would seem yes some people would be better off with an Apple.

I'm not possitive that my having posted the shortcut to Resperonics Pro 2.2 Card Reader Software and others had anything to do with it though I was descretely warned by private message that this was a distinct possibility and all my investigations lead me in that direction.
Josef

Are you saying that someone on the forum unleashed a cyber attack on you for posting the link to Encore 2.2 or are you implying that Respironics unleashed it on you for posting the link?

Deffinitely not. I am saying that I don't believe it was a simple kid that did it. It was very professionally done. Had to be a real big kid and I was to be taught a lesson. Of course, I'm Bohemian, don't hear very well, can't read real well etc, etc. I'm quite willing to help anybody anytime. If you want a copy of the link, I will deffinitely sent it to you by PM. I intented it as a warning of the potential consequences of what the really big kids can do.

Josef

Let me see if I have this straight.

Before this spirals out of control please read the original one carefully. You are rewriting what was said.

>>I'm not possitive that my having posted the shortcut to Resperonics Pro 2.2 Card Reader Software and others had anything to do with it though I was descretely warned by private message that this was a distinct possibility and all my investigations lead me in that direction.<<

That is quite a bit different from restating as if the original poster said it as an absolute fact. This kind of misinterpretation can lead to distorted arguments.

Please be careful.

DSM

[WearyOne]

Just in response to the Apple thing....I don't have the funds to make this type of change, but for the possible future...if my clients all use PC's can I use an Apple? The work I send them has to be in Word and Excel. Do they have that for Apple? Has to be easily compatible between us. I always thought the answer was no. (Sorry if this is a dumb question!)

[sleepsalot]

Josef,

Next time you buy a computer . . . I'd suggest you forget PC's and go with Apple iMac. No more virus, firewall, etc etc problems to worry about or buy! I FINALLY took my son's advice and converted from PC's to Apple about six years ago . . . and still can't believe the difference! So simple, direct, trouble-free, and fabulous customer service with the Apple Care Plan.

Try it, you'll never go back

Joy

Joy,
I have nothing against Apple, in fact i own several ipods and am familiar with the Mac operating system(and they may in fact be better than PC, but I know that they both have ups and downs) however you must be careful because there are still several viruses that Macs can get that i am currently aware of. Again I am not bashing Mac Or PC, just pointing out that determined cybercriminals will try to attack the most difficult computer because it presents a challenge which many of these people creating viruses find attractive (it shows off their "skills"). So I guess since Mac is one of the most difficult operating systems to infect (less the couple viruses) go with Mac

-Jordan ( I'm currently earning my Bachelors degree in Information Technology)

[dwsupt]

Not a dumb question. Yes the new imacs etc. can run in pc mode and allow you to use word, ecel, etc. The new machines are nice, but I too swear by the old PCs. Why? I don't really know.

[fidelfs]

Hi,

I am a business consultant working for different clients and companies. Most of them require windows and MS Office to work for them, but .......... I use and own only macs.

To connect to the network you just need an ip address/cat 5 cable. you know the cable you connect the computer to the network.
If they have domains (windows) then you have to autenticate once and save the password in your key-chain (mac place to store passwords and security). You can have MS office for mac and also you have several options if you want to have windows in your computer.
The new mac are intel based same as your pc. You can use boot camp that allows macs to boot in other operating systems such as windows, linux, etc. You will need to buy Windows xp/vista/windows 7 version. You also can have a software to run several operating systems at once, using virtual machine (that is what I use), sounds more complicated that what really is. It is a software that you run and it will allow other operating systems boot creating a virtual machine.
There is also MS office for mac and there are other alternatives such as Open office, Neo Office softwares that let you open and work word, excel, power point and work with the files and save them in the same format or chose native Open office version.

For your reading pleasure

http://www.apple.com/macosx/compatibility/ Mac compatibility.
http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php Neo Office.
http://www.openoffice.org/
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TQ744LL/A MS Office for mac
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/ Fusion virtual machine.
http://www.parallels.com/ Parallels virtual machine.

[fidelfs]

There are no virus for mac or Unix or linux. There are trojans. Trojans is a software that hide inside of a legitimate software so when you download the software and install it, then attack your computer.

The difference is you have to enter the administrator password and that is how the gain access to the computer. Yes, there are vulnerabilities than can be exploted but there are no viruses for mac/linux/unix.

There are also cookies that can track things from you when you surf the web. Something that is very vulnerable for the macs it is that people install windows using boot camp or virtual machine and they forget to have anti virus for windows or firewalls then if they gain access to the windows portion they can damage your mac portion as well.

[sleepsalot]

There are no virus for mac or Unix or linux. There are trojans. Trojans is a software that hide inside of a legitimate software so when you download the software and install it, then attack your computer.

The difference is you have to enter the administrator password and that is how the gain access to the computer. Yes, there are vulnerabilities than can be exploted but there are no viruses for mac/linux/unix.

There are also cookies that can track things from you when you surf the web. Something that is very vulnerable for the macs it is that people install windows using boot camp or virtual machine and they forget to have anti virus for windows or firewalls then if they gain access to the windows portion they can damage your mac portion as well.

mrgreen,

Thanks for correcting my info!

haha i have much to learn!

jordan

[josef]

[quote="FinceMgr"]Let me see if I have this straight. After multiple malware problems and multiple attempts at protecting yourself with multiple simultaneous products you claim to have been “cyber attacked” because of sharing links here, and yet you continue to so and welcome others to join you? Are you serious?
Anyone who wants Encore 2 can easily create an account at (removed by request) , log on and download the official version.
It would seem yes some people would be better off with an Apple.



I have thought about this very long and hard, I'm not real sure I understand what he thinks he's trying to say. I'm not even sure it was meant to be so extremely rude and condescending as it appeared to me. Instead of offering helpful advice, it came across as a hateful personal attack. Worse yet, the list of people supporting me was extremely short. Just what am I missing here. If my help is not wanted, (as poor as it is) I can certainly leave. I am a senior citizen, Vietnam Veteran who has had many and numerous bouts with my maker and here in mt twilight years, I am beginning to feel true peace for the first time in over 40 years and this Dude does this hateful thing. What am I missing here. I feel sure that the at the end of the message doen't stand for Lots of Love.

Really Really Upset in South Texas.