A word to the wise!

Thread Starter

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
Kind friends:

Please! Never, ever, under any circumstances install or use 'Team Viewer'! --- It seems my (primary) laptop has been 'hijacked' via said utility -- Although I've 'wiped' and reformatted the drives then reinstalled the OS -- I still have to wonder what 'shenanigans' the hacker{s} got up to!:mad: -- I know I'll be seeing 'copyright cops' in my nightmares!...:rolleyes: Very, very pleased I do not maintain business records on any of my internet-connected systems!

Please don't take false solace in claims of security, anonymity, nor, for that matter, the assurances of even hardware firewalls! Utilities such as Team Viewer, VNC and their ilk, despite developer intent, are little more than intrusions waiting to happen!!! --- And yes! I recognize the fact that my own lassitude and insistence upon convenience at risk of compromised security owns its share of the blame:oops::mad:

If there is a 'silver lining' in this, it is proof of the superiority of WIN7 over other MS platforms -- W7 was the only MS product to 'object' to Team Viewer's installation -- hence it is that 'ye olde' xw4600 (i.e. the system I'm currently writing from) is the sole unit on the premises which may reliably be regarded as 'clean'... I hope...

Hope relation of my sorry experience spares others a similar fate...

Best regards
HP
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
I regularly use TV, it has a good reputation from what I've seen, as an alternate to Remote Access. Any such program has some risks from what I've seen, but for me it is very useful.
 

Thread Starter

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
I regularly use TV, it has a good reputation from what I've seen, as an alternate to Remote Access. Any such program has some risks from what I've seen, but for me it is very useful.
Please don't get me wrong --- I'm not suggesting that Team Viewer itself is 'dodgy' -- Merely that it (inadvertently) 'leaves the door open', as it were --- Once 'hacked' an interloper 'has' the keyboard, mouse and monitor (yikes!) --- Perhaps a robust, carefully configured, HW firewall could close said breach... Right now I'm 'once bitten...' and all that:eek:

Let me tell ya --- The sight of 'automatic writing' appearing on the display right 'cooled me off'!!! If only it had owed 'merely' to specters or dear old Ruth Montgomery herself!;):rolleyes:

Best regards
HP
 
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Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
I started using it when I had surgery. It allowed me to use my desktop whilst I was bed bound and recovering. Never stopped using it after that.
 

Thread Starter

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
I started using it when I had surgery. It allowed me to use my desktop whilst I was bed bound and recovering. Never stopped using it after that.
Indeed such utilities are 'addictively' convenient --- Inasmuch as my home is rather large, I found it 'irresistible' in conjunction with my extended wifi network... While, in your case, it started as a legitimate aid to convalescence --- In mine, however, it was just plain sloth:oops: --- Wadda world!:rolleyes:

Best regards
HP
 

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
Please, for a person that doesn't even own a, "smart phone"...What is the alleged function of, "Team Viewer"?
@Hypatia's Protege
It lets you see your team

</sarcasm>

It allows you to login to another computer remotely and have that computer's desktop displayed on your desktop, as if you were sitting at that remote computer.


I use teamviewer and I am not overly concerned about the security. I think it is fairly secure. I reasearched before installing it the first time several years ago, and again just now. I did not find a wealth of complaints about (lack of) security. The security has been upgraded over the years as hackers have developed new techniques. This is a software that you really want to update any time there is an update available. Those complaints that I did find were from a couple if years ago. Were you using the latest version?

Any software is hackable by the right person with the right opportunities and enough time. If Sony, Target, the IRS, and Wall Street can't keep the hackers out, it's kinda silly to expect your teamviewer to. Especially considering all the hacking opportunities it presents. Think about it; It's got to be a really attractive target, total access to your pc, right through firewalls as if they weren't even there.
 

Thread Starter

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
Please, for a person that doesn't even own a, "smart phone"...What is the alleged function of, "Team Viewer"?
@Hypatia's Protege
I have a BIG house! -- I grew weary of 'going on patrol' every 90 minutes to re-establish the peripheral "security and hazard stations" -- hence it was convenient to minutely control the network from the comparative comfort of my lab -- à la an anthropomorphic arachnid at the center of its web (pun intended:D)...

FYI team viewer is an expansion upon the concept of 'VNC', etc...

Best regards
HP

PS How did you know I refuse to own a Smart Phone? --- If it was a guess -- you got it in one!:cool::D:D
 
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#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I am the person to whom I referred as lacking a, "smart phone". I was asking for someone to dumb it down for me.

And, yes, I don't own a, "smart phone" for what I think are good reasons. Any phone that can catch a virus, report my location to the NSA, and do both of those while failing to make a phone call, is not something for which I would pay money.
 

Thread Starter

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
And, yes, I don't own a, "smart phone" for what I think are good reasons. Any phone that can catch a virus, report my location to the NSA, and do both of those while failing to make a phone call, is not something for which I would pay money.
All of that, in addition to designed functionality as a remotely activated audio/video surveillance device --- "you're only paranoid if you're wrong" -- To wit: Absolutely agreed! -- though I feel even governmental organizations have much to learn in the ways of base foulness from corporate entities!... While not particularly 'pious' even I recognizes the mark{s} of the proverbial 'beast' when encountered!:mad::rolleyes:

Best regards
HP
 

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
I am the person to whom I referred as lacking a, "smart phone". I was asking for someone to dumb it down for me.

And, yes, I don't own a, "smart phone" for what I think are good reasons. Any phone that can catch a virus, report my location to the NSA, and do both of those while failing to make a phone call, is not something for which I would pay money.
What kind of car do you have?
I hope it's not the late-model type with any bells and whistles!
There are endless possibilities for hacking a car. God forbid it has bluetooth capability and an in-car microphone. Your car's data network can be accessed through several means, as insignificant as TPMS - that's right; that little light that comes on when your tire pressure is low.

If you're that worried about your phone, it would be best to stick with cars from 1988 and older, carbureted cars with nothing electrical but hard-wired lamps.
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
What kind of car do you have?
I hope it's not the late-model type with any bells and whistles!
There are endless possibilities for hacking a car. God forbid it has bluetooth capability and an in-car microphone. Your car's data network can be accessed through several means, as insignificant as TPMS - that's right; that little light that comes on when your tire pressure is low.

If you're that worried about your phone, it would be best to stick with cars from 1988 and older, carbureted cars with nothing electrical but hard-wired lamps.
He said in earlier posts that he had a Ford minivan (Aerostar or Windstar), poor soul. The only good news about those vehicles is that they can be repaired with stone-age tools. Oh, I mean perfect for Number Twelve. By the way, Twelve, how do you manage to post on this site? Does a neighbor have some type of router that converts smoke signals to IP?
 

Thread Starter

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
What kind of car do you have?
I hope it's not the late-model type with any bells and whistles!
There are endless possibilities for hacking a car. God forbid it has bluetooth capability and an in-car microphone. Your car's data network can be accessed through several means, as insignificant as TPMS - that's right; that little light that comes on when your tire pressure is low.

If you're that worried about your phone, it would be best to stick with cars from 1988 and older, carbureted cars with nothing electrical but hard-wired lamps.
I maintain that the security/privacy liabilities owe to 'connectivity' as opposed to automation in and of itself -- Inasmuch as, unlike 'handhelds', automobiles are not, in essence, telecommunication devices, said systems may be defeated with (relative) impunity -- that said, I would add 'LoJack', 'OnStar', 'full-duplex' key-fobs, telemetry-enabled ECMs and everything 'IoT' to the 'schedule' of dubious features --- Next up, of course, will be 'on board' fuel-tax adjusters --- Sadly, such aggressive erosion of privacy (and, indeed, individuality itself) is solely down to the benighted masses in their desperate quest for petty convenience and the oh-so reassuring 'clutch' of Big bro's 'affirming' claw hand!:rolleyes:

Best regards
HP
 
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#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I keep saying...I used to own a 1948 Ford pick-up truck which had everything I need except air conditioning.
Now I have a 1996 Aerostar. At least it doesn't have OnStar!
If I ever get a vehicle that reports my location, I will do everything reasonable (and a few things that are unreasonable) to disable its reporting and rip out its microphone(s) and video camera(s).
I don't even let my Aerostar beep at me! (I stuffed electricians putty in its beeper.)

And, no, I don't worry about it. I just fix it.
I have never bought a computer. I use what people abandoned when they didn't want to pay for repairs.
I have never typed my real name into my computer, I don't tell my computer my SS number, drivers license number, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, my street address, etc. I turn my stupid phone off before I get in my vehicle and it requires a password before it will turn back on. I receive my utility bills when the USPS letter carrier drives by my house. If the Internet stopped today, or my computer caught on fire, it wouldn't change anything for me except how I kill time. If I need to use the computer to write a letter or make a list of real things, I unplug the router until the job is done and any remaining contents about the real world are encrypted. I have turned off all the save functions on my open source word processor, pdf reader, MSPaint, Internet browser, recently opened files, etc. I run CC Cleaner every time I shut down Firefox.

And I don't worry about it.
I don't even keep a pistol in the computer room so I can shoot the hard drives. They don't contain anything I wouldn't want the NSA to see.
 

Thread Starter

Hypatia's Protege

Joined Mar 1, 2015
3,228
If I need to use the computer to write a letter or make a list of real things, I unplug the router until the job is done and any remaining contents about the real world are encrypted.
Kudos!:cool: --- Be advised, however, that some 'stealthy' applications cache data, then await an opportunity to 'phone home':mad:
For that (and similar) reasons I confine all record keeping and other security critical data to systems having no network connectivity whatever...

And please, don't anyone even get me started on 'cloud backup services' - that's straight up lame!!!:rolleyes:

Best regards
HP
 

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
I receive my utility bills when the USPS letter carrier drives by my house.
Someone else tried to file my 2014 income taxes using my identity. The IRS caught it and notified me, and suggested I engage in proactive measures to guard my identity, as I am already literally a victim of identity fraud. One such proactive measure I took, was creating an account with Experian's credit and identity monitoring service. Part of the initial process was taking a quiz/survey about my habits. They asked if I used paper billing/statements, and I indicated "yes." They dinged my quiz score for that. As they explain, it's much easier for someone to walk up to your mailbox and remove a bunch of papers with your sensitive information printed all over them, than it is for someone to hack your email inbox and get your data that way. They say that you should sign up for paperless online billing whenever possible. I have a feeling that the information that was used to illegitimately file my taxes, was pulled out of my mailbox. I now have a security camera aimed at my mailbox.
 
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