I was playing a game of starcraft on B.net and this guy threatened to hack my computer. I wouldn’t noramlly be afraid of some threat like that, but lately I’ve had to kill a couple of viruses and my computer has been acting weirdly for the last little while.
Is it possible to hack someone’s computer on B.net/ Likely he even knows how to do so?
Bump.
‘Hack’ is a pretty broad term. In general –
- I’m assuming since you’re playing starcraft, you’re running windows of some sort. Depending on which version it is, there can be some pretty nasty security flaws if left untreated.
- Given where you heard this, I’d say there’s a 99.9% chance the guy is just blowing smoke
- If you can stick your machine behind some sort of firewall, if it isn’t already, you’ll probably be more or less safe (although depending on how it’s setup, it might take a little tweaking to get it to work with Bnet)
- Don’t open up any network shares that you don’t have to. Try and set reasonable permissions on the ones you do
- Don’t open up programs random people send you
This will take care of the majority of the cases, probably. There are undoubtedly other things you could do, but I imagine most of the things will be variations on the above themes.
So, in short, this guy is probably full of shit. But I suppose you can never be to careful.
Is it possible? Yes. As long as he has your IP, he can theoretically compromise your box.
Is this likely? No. There’s a good chance the “hacker” is just some kid with a big mouth. Even if he does have some “skillz,” the chances of him getting in are pretty slim, depending on how your machine is set up. If you have a dynamically assigned IP (dialup, cable, DSL), he’ll only know where you are until you disconnect. If you have a firewall (eg. ZoneAlarm), you’re pretty safe.
Cracker, actually. I know what the idiot probably said, but he’s probably not the height of intellect. Cracking is destructive. Hacking is creative.
You are, theoretically, always at risk. Even if your machine is not connected to any networks, someone could break the room it’s in and have physical access to the machine. Once someone has unrestricted physical access to the machine, the game’s up.
Networks open a new range of possible attacks, from simple DoS attacks (Denial of Service, or flooding, attacks) to exploitations of known holes (MS-Windows being the main one). If you aren’t running a firewall, you’re fairly open to even simple attacks. If you are running a firewall, you are still open to some extent depending on what services you’re letting through your firewall (shares, for example, or an open telnet port) and what programs you allow access to the outside world (Word to the wise: Internet Explorer has no business connecting to the internet.). Of course, a DoS attack is a risk even if you’re running a very strict firewall.
Viruses are only a hazard if you download and run them. Downloading and running them is much easier if your email client automatically executes scripts, as Outlook does. That’s something else to look out for. A virus scanner is useful if you keep it up-to-date, but not otherwise. Viruses are so prevalent on Microsoft machines and unknown in Linux and MacOS X because Windows allows programs unrestricted access to the hard drive, enabling them to alter other programs.
So you need a firewall and a virus scanner. Ideally, you should get Linux or another real OS, so you can ignore most email worms and trojans.
Should you worry about that yahoo? Not particularly. Should you implement good security practice? Yes, of course. Right away. It is certainly worth your time.
If you’re running a file-sharing program like Kazaa, you’re downloading nasty programs already. I use Lavasoft Adaware from time to time, also I’m using a program that cripples Kazaa’s “virus-ability” somewhat. I once removed over 400 pieces of spyware, adware & viruses from someone’s computer with Adaware…it makes a heck of a difference in speed.