I needed some help installing m annual update of Norton. I got on their chat service and a nice young man in India helped me.
He asked for my permission and took control of my computer. It was odd to see the cursor moving about on its own. Still, it all worked out and I am happy.
And a little creeped out. What steps ought I to take to make sure my computer is secure from this sort of access? I trust Norton and all, but I feel somewhat … violated.
Didnt you have to download the file that gave him remote desktop access and run it? Im fairly certain you did as there really isnt any prompt-less remote desktop running on windows by default.
Im guessing the chat applet had this feature, so if youre not in a chat I wouldnt worry about it.
I assume you’re using Windows. I don’t have an XP PC on at the moment, but on my Vista machine, go to:
Control Panels->Administrative Tools->Services
… Then look for “Windows Remote Management.”
If it says, “Started,” you can stop it by right clicking and selecting “Stop.” If you want to prevent it from starting automatically whenever you log on, right click, select Properties and look for a popup menu, select “Manual” or “Disabled.” Note that if you want to connect to someone’s PC this way (and they have it enabled), you’d go to Accessories->Remote Desktop Connection (or maybe it’s in a sub-folder of Accessories named “Communications.”)
Since you aren’t familiar with this, I assume you don’t have a VNC server installed. VNC provides the same functionality, but is open source and not as self-configuring as Remote Desktop. I have Ultra VNC running (because I control both Macs and PCs on my network), and it’s got a taskbar icon as well as an application to configure it. The server keeps track of the display and sends it to a VNC client, running on another PC, which sends any user inputs (e.g., keystrokes, mouse movements, mouse clicks, etc.) to the server, and the server posts these events to the system event queue. So the computer running the server receives controls from the client computer, and sends display output to the client computer. Note: "posts these events to the system event queue" is my understanding of how it works; it may actually work differently.
Both methods (as well as Apple’s “Screen Sharing,” use standard the VNC port 5900 (or maybe the range from 5900-5902). A final protection could be go into your router’s firewall and create a rule that blocks those ports. Blocking the “software” firewall (configured on your PC) is good enough, but you could also go into your router and block those ports from external sources.
(For Macs, the “software firewall” is in System Preferences->Sharing, and you’d uncheck the box named “Remote Management.”)
Ive worked with Norton/Symantec support and they certainly do not ask you to turn on remote desktop. They just have you download a little applet like most support companies.
Correct. RDP is a proprietary windows-only technology that Norton doesn’t use. I’m betting they’re using VNC, which would explain why you are able to watch the tech as he works from across the globe.
To allow this to work, the applet (a standalone server) must be downloaded and run. Once finished, you can delete this file.
Most applets are configured so that they only work once, and once a timeout has expired, it no longer works. You’re safe. 
I am using Mac. The program they used was called “Rescue,” and I cannot readily find it.
It’s no longer running, so it doesn’t matter.
They are using LogMeIn Rescue.
Thank you all.