|
|
An article in yesterday's Techworld newsletter was headed :
"Many home routers supplied by ISPs can be compromised en masse, researchers say."
http://news.techworld.com/networking/3535576/many-ho...
Should we be overly concerned?
|
|
|
Solution: Replace your ISP provided router by a generic router.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 20 Meg WBC
|
|
|
|
I got a call today from "The Windows Technical Department" regarding a problem with my pc, my reply was "you must be joking" and I put the phone down. It was quite unusual since the caller's number did appear on caller display rather than "withheld" or "unavailable" which one might expect.
What do these people want to do: possibly remotely access the pc to troubleshoot a fictitious problem and perhaps charge for a fix or would their intentions be far more malicious?
|
|
Register (or login) on our website and you will not see this ad.
|
|
|
|
10/10
|
|
|
Two obvious things spring to mind:
- load lots of malware onto your PC for all the usual reasons (banking info, botnet recruitment, etc)
- you have to pay - i.e. you give your card details to criminals. This is not usually a good idea...
2Mb/s? Not in my lifetime! (Nearly true Dec 2011)
|
|
|
|
I've had a call like that before from "Windows...", which I immediately dismissed, but what I found interesting about this one was that the caller's number did appear on caller display (the caller introduction himself using an English name and from Windows Technical Dept. but spoken with a foreign accent after I asked who was calling.) Would that make the caller traceable?
|
|
|
You're making the assumption that the displayed number was the caller's number rather than some random phone number. I gather it's quite straightforward to spoof the Caller ID.
Tony
We have more and more laws, and less and less enforcement
|
|
|
I gather it's quite straightforward to spoof the Caller ID.
Thanks - I didn't know that 
|
|
|
I had a call last week, which I ignored as I am want to do with all cals I don't recognize the number for.
The caller ID had been spoofed. A search revaled this was indeed a "Microsoft Technical Department" type call seeming to originate from India or thereabouts.
|
|
|
Relevance to OP? They'll use logmein type app to access your PC , not the router.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 20 Meg WBC
|
|
|
I had a call last week, which I ignored as I am want to do with all cals I don't recognize the number for.
The caller ID had been spoofed. A search revaled this was indeed a "Microsoft Technical Department" type call seeming to originate from India or thereabouts.
I've recently had an email from Microsoft regarding ending of support for XP (including encouraging me to buy a new OS) but never a phone call.
The fact that a number appeared on caller display almost made the call seem legit since it concerned the Windows OS ("Windows Technical Dept.") and it may catch some folks into believing it has something to do with XP still running on their machine?
|
|
|
Relevance to OP?
Remote access, security, etc.
They'll use logmein type app to access your PC , not the router.
What's a logmein type app - I've certainly done a remote assist on a XP machine and had full access to it with the permission of the user. Also I recall the ISP o2 doing a remote assist to a XP machine, with the user's permission, just to access the router GUI...
|
|
|
|
Id love a call like that, just to play along with them for abit and have some fun
|
Pages in this thread: 
Print Thread
deleted
