My ISP cuts my connection (Again)

[assassingod]

Although this happened with a previous IP, I didn't think it would happen again My ISP, clara.net, have cut my connection due to the reasons of 'Abusing the system by staying online for 14 days+' and 'spamming our users with e-mail'

Apparantly i've been Mass-Mailing clara.net users with spam, and abusing their broadband package. Which sucks quite a bit

So until I can clear my case that I have not been spamming users, I am not allowed to have my internet connection back - ever.:ermm:

It couldn't have come at a better time with RC1 just round the corner, but ah well.

I wont be able to give support for my hacks or browse vB.org for a bit ()

[Velocd]

If you are spamming them intentionally, then shame on you.

But if your computer is infested with an adware bot or someother spyware that's messing with the SMTP server, then it's just a misunderstanding. Of course you need to get rid of that bot, which I'm not exactly sure how. I have a networking job with my college, and I settle these kind of issues a lot. The best thing to do is enable your firewall, if you're using XP, or download Zonealarm. That will prevent outgoing messages.

[lasto]

Originally Posted by assassingod

Although this happened with a previous IP, I didn't think it would happen again My ISP, clara.net, have cut my connection due to the reasons of 'Abusing the system by staying online for 14 days+' and 'spamming our users with e-mail'

Apparantly i've been Mass-Mailing clara.net users with spam, and abusing their broadband package. Which sucks quite a bit

So until I can clear my case that I have not been spamming users, I am not allowed to have my internet connection back - ever.:ermm:

It couldn't have come at a better time with RC1 just round the corner, but ah well.

I wont be able to give support for my hacks or browse vB.org for a bit ()

its a good market out there for ISP`s m8 - if i was u id pick a choose a better one.
Your the one who is paying so take your money elsewhere.

[assassingod]

I had a check last night and my computer as filled with adware/spyware and a couple virus' (Serves me right for disabling my firewall)
So it was one of them spamming people. I've removed all of them now, but decided to format my drive just incase (Just as soon as I buy a new external HDD, I knew I shouldn't of sold my old one)

Im going to look for a nw ISP too, main reason being clara.net is too expensive and I don't think they allow x-box live things, I know BT do so I might go with them. I hope to get a new HDD within the next few days but with christmas coming closer, I reckon it'll be hard to get one. So far it's been hell these past 2 days without the internet And to ad to my sadness, my localhost has been messing around as well so I cannot get any work done offline.

I might start going outside as a result of all this *shock shock*

[FleaBag]

Didn't realise that type of thing was possible from ad-ware. Makes me wonder if I should be running a firewall lol. Apparantly NTL is pretty good speed-wise, I use their 56k and never had a problem and always get good speeds. Their' broadband is nicely priced and they support XBOX Live.

[RDX1]

Is your PC sending Viagra spam behind your back?
Wed 3 December, 2003 17:21

By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - Security experts have identified what they suspect to be the biggest culprit behind that seemingly unceasing torrent of e-mail spam messages and computer virus outbreaks.

The unwitting culprit, they say, is the home user with a broadband, or always-on, connection. In fact, it could be you.

Viruses and related "worms" typically target computers that run on Microsoft Windows and have a high-speed broadband connection. In the past six months, a new generation of bug has emerged that contains a so-called "trojan" program which discreetly installs itself into the innards of the PC.

An effective "trojan" gives the author near complete control of a victimised machine -- almost always a computer that is not equipped with proper firewall and security software.

The result is that the computer becomes a "zombie" ready to carry out any nefarious command.

Once hit, a computer user would never suspect that through their machines flow waves of spam and e-mail-borne viruses, experts say.

Some machines have even been commandeered to participate in debilitating "denial of service" attacks, sending a flood of data requests capable of knocking an internet company offline.

The fast-spreading Sobig.F virus this summer was the first to do this, experts said.

CHURCH-GOERS CAUGHT IN THE ACT

Suresh Ramasubramanian, manager of Hong Kong-based e-mail filtering company Outblaze, said the volume of spam his firm has intercepted has exploded since Sobig.F emerged in August.

Increasingly, it appears to be average home users whose PCs send out discounts for Viagra and penis-enlargement offers. "These are your typical church-going people," he said.

With countries outlawing spam and even setting criminal penalties and fines, some industry observers wonder if ordinary computer users will get caught up in a dragnet.

"Almost a third of all spam is being sent from hijacked, innocent computers," said Graham Cluley, of British virus and spam-filtering firm Sophos.

"What happens if it's actually grandma or little Timmy's computer sending out the spam?"

ONLINE BLACKMAIL

British police recently warned that crime syndicates, many in Eastern Europe, are using denial of service attacks to blackmail businesses, threatening to knock them offline unless they pay a small fee.

These groups are honing their virus-writing skills to build up an army of machines to use at their beck and call, investigators say. For now, sending spam through an affected machine is more common.

It is one of a series of new tricks spammers and virus writers have devised to obscure their tracks. Known spammers are often blocked by spam filters, thus making it crucial to mask their identity through a computer user with a clean record.

Steve Linford, founder of the spam-fighting organisation The Spamhaus Project, said his firm has gathered evidence of spammers hosting Web sites that hawk everything from prescription drugs to pornographic images to Russian brides on hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected PCs.

A spammers' Web site hops from infected computer to infected computer in a digital version of cat-and-mouse. Linford estimates the ranks of machines capable of piggy-backing sex sites and the like grows by 100,000 machines per week.

"Every time we trace to a Viagra web site now, the site will change location, sometimes every five to 10 minutes," he said. "It's a very popular spamming method."

[FleaBag]

That's quite shocking. Luckily[?] using 56K and Win98, I won't be part of this.

[assassingod]

I've wiped my hard-drive, got a new ISP and am awaiting the arrival of my router and modem so hopefully I'll be fully back intime for RC1