HACKED
INTRODUCTION
The digital world has become essential in the 21st century. Dependent on our devices, we’re crippled without them.
As much as we take it for granted however, it’s a world fraught with danger. Those aware depend on security software; anti-virus, firewall, with many including a VPN and more. Unknown attachments are never opened nor risky sites visited. Yet, a determined hacker can sometimes break through.
In the past few years, despite best efforts, my home network has been attacked twice. Working at home, isolated from the outside world, there didn’t seem to be a need to use the VPN; primarily for venturing out with laptop or phone. But, with all other security in place, someone broke through.
The intruder ultimately eliminated, the VPN has been on full time with security always on high alert. Yet, it was not enough to prevent a targeted attack by someone who apparently wanted to end my digital life.
As the Covid-19 virus began to dominate our lives with people sick and dying around us my computer was also attacked by a virus. Fortunately, it didn’t put me on a ventilator but it was an excruciating ordeal.
HACKED
PRIVACY COMPROMISED
I’ve been a Verizon customer since having a phone of my own, decades before personal computers. The company was the original AT&T (current AT&T is a spinoff; Verizon the original). When a computer entered my universe, I signed up for FIOS internet.
Every two years it meant dealing with an increase and the haggling to bring it down. Still higher than the other guys, it was a good product, so I’d sign up for another two. With pricing becoming less flexible and live customer service increasingly scarce, I’d swear that next time I’d deal with the competition.
Next time arrived shortly before the Covid-19 lockdown and Verizon was rigid; no negotiating. Compounding this, they had cut in-person customer service ever more drastically. Time to make the switch to Optimum!
Good-bye Verizon, Hello Optimum
Optimum offered twice the download speed at a lower rate with a no increase price guarantee. A negative reputation didn’t put me off. All those years with Verizon, I was livid at their treatment. After all, I was just looking for a hookup for the internet and phone. What could happen?
Best laid plans
The ordeal commenced in April, 2020, shortly after the Covid-19 lockdown. I had been attempting to deal with the now empty world and calm my nervous system after chasing that never ending to do list for so long. The plan was to set up a YouTube channel to keep the non-profit Brooklyn Streetcar Artists’ Group (BSAG) alive and create a personal blog to get back to writing.
Unknown dangers
Before mustering the patience to begin though, strange things started happening. Popups were appearing requesting system passwords and the VPN refused to open. Anti-virus showed nothing. Technicians provided no answers. With no evidence visible on the computer they couldn’t find a problem. And it affected the scarcely used laptop as well. There was definitely something horribly wrong.
Those who depend on a computer for work and personal business understand how frightening this can be. Now my nervous system was flying out of control in an entirely different direction. With people dying around me, I tried to keep things in perspective. After all, it was a machine; I had my life and the lives of those closest. But so much of my existence was in this thing. Would my mind survive intact?
Serious problem; no help
Calls to Optimum customer support provided no relief. Having a top rated VPN, their support couldn’t figure it out. Uninstalling and downloading provided the same results; no functional VPN.
YouTube and the blog would have to wait. Remaining off line except when absolutely necessary, I’d use the Opera browser with its built in VPN, which seemed to be working. With constant requests for passwords, assuming that nothing was legitimate, minimal time was spent on line.
Having adapted to the digital world for personal and business, with the virus raging around the globe; trapped at home with nothing but frustration for the foreseeable future.
Premium support…really?
It was time to sign up for Optimum’s premium support. They worked on the browsers and two technicians each declared the problem at an end. It wasn’t! Then, the computer stopped connecting to tech support. Getting through by phone was yet another hassle. Wiping the hard drive was suggested as the best solution; the thought a horror.
A technician came over and changed the router…no help. A few more sessions on the phone and they sent another who wanted to switch routers again. If it didn’t work the first time, why bother? They didn’t have a clue!
Connecting the dots
Throughout the ordeal, snippets of information from the popups and actions started to make a bit of sense. It was obvious that changes were made that stifled the VPN and other security, allowing the attack.
Little by little, I was able to zero in on the executable (installation) file for the VPN which was inconspicuously placed to override those I had been recently downloading. With that file deleted and the program reinstalled from the site, I was able to open it and prevent the intruder from reentering. Nothing was discovered because there was nothing unusual on the computer itself. Redirecting the VPN to get in, they had been phishing for passwords.
Relief at last
It had been two months of excruciating frustration. Still extremely paranoid and remaining so to this day, the VPN is connected and the firewall on its highest settings at all times. It was finally time to get to work on BSAG-TV and create a web site for the blog.
With security remaining on high, work began on the projects that would replace pre-Covid life. Over two years had passed, BSAG-TV (YouTube) and To the Point (blog) had been up and running with several posts in each.
Always remaining conscious of the experience, caution was top priority. Yet, once again, despite best efforts…Happy New Year 2023.
HACKED
A PERSONAL ATTACK
A few days before ringing in 2023 none of the browsers were loading pages; no internet. I was connected; Outlook operating; mail in and out. VPN was on, firewall on high and all security seemed fully functional. Nothing indicated problems yet something was terribly amiss.
Optimum=frustration…again
Calls to Optimum resulted in nothing but frustration; no problems on their end. The router was reset on my end and theirs to no avail. A technician was sent. The problem, he said, was on my computer. Somehow, despite all precautions, the barriers had been compromised. Turning on the laptop that had been sitting dormant, it was infected as well.
A targeted attack?
Unlike before, it didn’t seem to be phishing for information but bent on destruction. With no sound advice, scans were run constantly and VPN always on. An assortment of security apps showed nothing. Hints indicated something there but nothing discovered.
During a scan, a popup appeared, ”This computer cannot connect to www.to-the-point.org.” Was my blog the target? The task manager showed security programs bouncing around frantically; nothing I’d ever seen. Apparently useless at this point, I uninstalled my anti-virus and fell back on Windows Defender, the Microsoft installed anti-virus, now highly rated.
It’s a monster!
No one could provide answers. Optimum wasn’t even offering premium support! At one point, it appeared as if the culprit was visible. There was the old program, as it turned out, in name only. The virus had been spoofing my uninstalled anti-virus. It seemed easy enough to delete but the next day it was back stronger than ever. I managed to find the folder of which screen shots were taken…nine full-screen pages.
Time to bring it to the shop
Impossible to delete and no guarantee that there wasn’t further malicious code lurking elsewhere on the system, it was time to find a technician. No house calls these days and remote repair impossible, disconnecting the bulky machine through the tangles of wires under the desk and dragging it to the shop was the only recourse. And what would it cost? Well, with so much at stake, whatever!
No recourse…wipe it clean
Taking longer than expected, I finally received a call. Despite attempts to defeat the villain, there was still unusual activity; the only solution, wipe the hard drive. At least there’s an online backup but still a major hardship.
Pick up the machine, hook it up, install and set security programs to the highest level. Then restore the data. Fortunately, there was accommodation to bring back immediately needed files on demand. But the ordeal was far from over.
It was targeted!
An attempt to reach the dashboard of the blog found it impossible to connect. There were also problems connecting to vital sites for the non-profit, including that for the fast approaching deadline for the NYC Council grant. Apparently these were the primary targets. The entire network was a mess; connecting to my printer, cell phone and speaker impossible. Whoever was responsible was determined to shut me down.
Loads of spam as well
As if that wasn’t enough, Office Outlook refused to open, compromising my ability to deal efficiently with email. And my inboxes were constantly filled with a huge amounts of spam. Whoever was responsible was absolutely vicious.
Alive but still in need of help
Files were completely disorganized, programs gone; some irreplaceable; and a long road to normalcy. But when things started to go awry again one night, I shut down in frustration. What now?
The next morning, everything seemed okay, but now suspicious of everything, Optimum was called once again.
Having been no help while the virus controlled the machine, they tried to convince me that they were doing everything they could. A technician was sent who checked things out and provided no help.
Change the router
Once my data was back and still indications that there were problems, they agreed to change the router. Suggesting I make the switch at one of their stores, it seemed like a better option than killing a good part of the day waiting for a technician. An employee sitting by the door said that the only router they had would require an upgrade in service…more wasted time! So, I made the appointment.
Friendly enough, the technician said the router was an upgrade and could handle much more band width. Could the guy in the store have been wrong? I wouldn’t know without the name of the router; nowhere to be found.
Fearing for a relapse, to assure the best security, I asked the technician how to change the new router’s name and password; it could be done on line. So, online I went and made the necessary changes. But, there was a glitch. Both the new and old names appeared in different places; one for Wi-Fi and the other for the wired connection. And the VPN, first line of defense, only seemed to be working on one.
Tech support again
Tech support again brought me someone with a difficult accent who struggled to correct the situation. After 45 minutes, she gave up. The next day found me talking to someone who seemed to know better. He suggested that the only solution was to do it on the router itself but made an effort to try a workaround. Another lengthy session. He suggested that a technician come over to change the router again. Scheduled for the next night, Saturday of a three day weekend; something I certainly wasn’t happy about.
This is how they help
Early the same evening a call came from Optimum. The woman sounded like; probably was; the same who couldn’t fix it before. After another long and futile session, she assured that the situation wouldn’t cause a problem. Was her motive to head off the additional tech visit?
Who is running things?
So, Saturday morning I called again. Asking the name of the router, it appeared that this was the one I was denied at the store. I was told to call first to be sure. Having appointments that day, I’d go on Sunday.
I called the closest store, only to reach central support and be told that all calls were routed to them over the weekend. He suggested I call the store on Monday. Having no desire to disconnect everything to charge forward into another blind alley, I’d check the store and run a few errands. Arriving, sure enough, the same router…and told the store would be closed Monday for the holiday.
So Tuesday I brought home another router.
Is it over?
The system appears to be operational while I attempt to organize files and bring back vital programs. Yet, paranoia remains with every hiccup eliciting near panic. Is it really over? If not…?
On March 3, still attempting to organize the chaos of files and folders scattered throughout the hard drive, an email arrived from the security app on the blog.
A Bruteforce Attack is a series of attempts to penetrate a site. This was followed by a list of thirty separate attacks. The address indicates it’s from Russia but circumstances dictate a local origin.
So, as I live in fear of persistent disruption and my inbox overloads with spam, the question is, “Who is so determined to stifle To the Point, shut down Brooklyn Streetcar Artists’ Group and harass the hell out of me?”
Note:
In these days of scant regulation; the nation being sold a bill of goods that regulation aimed at protecting the public was hurting us. Reality indicates that it’s only harmful to the corporate bottom line.
In the case of local internet providers, there is a choice here of just two. Both are greedy and unscrupulous but differ a bit in their approach. One is greedier; their hands as deep into our pockets as they can reach; the other more incompetent and unscrupulous.
Disclaimer:
All content and views expressed on these pages are those of the author and do not reflect those of Brooklyn Streetcar Artists’ Group (BSAG), its members, directors, affiliations or any other person or organization.
Support for our artists is vital In order to preserve our culture.