Hackers
Hackers, also known as “Crackers”, are sick people who will stop at nothing to find out what’s in your computer. They have software that sends out their “bait and hook” packets. Once your computer accepts just one of those packets, something called a “Backdoor” is opened. Through this backdoor hackers can gain access to everything to your computer…Passwords, Credit Card Numbers, Addresses, etc. You name it they can get it. One of the main ways to determine if you have been hacked is to open an MSDOS window, through Windows, and then type with out the quotation marks “netstat –a” This will show you all open connections, and most of the time it will be your computer name and then next to it, it will say “Listening”. This is safe. When you have all programs like msn messenger, kazaa, and all downloads not running, run this. It will list all open ports, and if you see an IP address next to it, you can look it up on http://www.arin.net. Just type in the IP address, then click “SEARCH WHOIS”. This will give you all information on the IP address.
Hacker Defense Tips
The only way to totally hack-proof your pc is with a firewall.
The firewall will block all unrecognized “packets” and usually it will notify you. Most viruses, like Subseven and Nimda, infect your computer through a port on your computer. With the firewall, the virus is unable to infect your pc.
Some companies, like Symantec and Mc.Affee will even include some sort of IP address tracing kit, and an email attachment scanner.