Computer attacked? Do logs log such? [Solved]

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nooby
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Computer attacked? Do logs log such? [Solved]

#1 Post by nooby »

I hope it is solved. I use an old optic mouse and it could be that it has glitches. I have no idea how one test such but it may create the behavior I describe.

Old text

Two times now the computer act as if someone has control of it via the network.

Looked similar both times but it could be something else.

Suddenly the Browser are not under my control. The page goes to the bottom as if somebody glance through the page from top to bottom.

Then when I try to go to Menu Shutdown Power off then the whole page start to act and all buttons flicker and make it impossible to shut off so I used ctrl+alt+backspace and that repaired this behavior and then it took weeks until it happen again today.

So I want to know if I can look in some blog that hopefully got saved before me did a shutdown.

Do there exist some program that can be in background and look for this behavior and register what IP address or whatever so one can know whom is doing this?

Or can it be some odd glitch getting triggered suddenly that explains the odd behavior? Spike from mains AC neighbor starting a vacuum cleaner or something creating havoc???

It feels really scary. What is going on?

Yes I had a Router but I lost connect to internet each 30 minutes so I did not continue with it.
Last edited by nooby on Wed 22 Sep 2010, 18:00, edited 1 time in total.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

kilgour
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#2 Post by kilgour »

What about firewalls? Activated, or not?

nooby
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#3 Post by nooby »

Yes me check that it is active each time. I should have mention that
but took it for granted that all of us use it.

so what can it be. Do you recognize the odd behavior?

Sleepy so I go to bed now. Red answers after a nights sleep.
Hope somebody get what is happening.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

postfs1

#4 Post by postfs1 »

To reedit up to date.
Last edited by postfs1 on Sun 27 Mar 2016, 22:04, edited 1 time in total.

nooby
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Location: SwedenEurope

#5 Post by nooby »

"Firestarter" firewall can show attempts of connection;
Where do I look then? I am not familiar with how one do what you suggest.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

postfs1

#6 Post by postfs1 »

To reedit up to date.
Last edited by postfs1 on Sun 27 Mar 2016, 21:57, edited 1 time in total.

4-stroke
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Re: Computer attacked? Do the logs register such?

#7 Post by 4-stroke »

nooby wrote: It feels really scary. What is going on?
It's Fredrik Reinfeldt! He found out who you voted for and now he's going to assimilate you! :evil:

Seriously, it's just a glitch. It's happened to me a few times. I wouldn't worry about it.

nooby
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#8 Post by nooby »

I voted for the FP so M feels abandoned? :)

Okay you guys makes dun of my naive posting.

How do you know it is just a glitch. Is that guessing or intuition or just gut feeling.

Have you seen any log that says it is a glitch. some developer that say it is a known bug or what?

How does one prevent it from happening again. What triggers the glitch if that is what it is?
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

4-stroke
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#9 Post by 4-stroke »

nooby wrote: How do you know it is just a glitch. Is that guessing or intuition or just gut feeling.
I think it's my old crappy mouse. Sometimes the pointer jumps around like crazy all over the screen. The electrons get lost on their way to the cpu. :wink:

nooby
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#10 Post by nooby »

Yes your mouse can have that glitch.

But the thing with my computer behaves differently. Not easy to describe.

I am in one of the browsers. Seamonkey or Firefox.

Suddenly a human or a program take over control and look around.

It scroll the page from up to down as if looking through it and then
when me want to shut down the browser and go to menu and shut down the computer it does not let me do this.

So the only way to gain control is to do a ctrl+alt+backspace and then writing reboot at that prompt coming up.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

4-stroke
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#11 Post by 4-stroke »

I don't really know what causes the glitch you're having. It's most likely software related.
nooby wrote: Suddenly a human or a program take over control and look around.
This scenario is higly unlikely.

It's all about how paranoid you're determined to be.

nooby
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#12 Post by nooby »

Yes, I get you see it that way.

but I am asking a specific question and your answers IMO derails it by playing it down.

I want to look at logs or use a program that can show what actually did happen. where can I look for clues on what did happen?

which program caused it if it was not a live human being doing it.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

Bruce B

#13 Post by Bruce B »

Nooby,

To say all I wish to say might take many paragraphs and a few posts, so I'll approach it that way.

A primary cause of paranoia is having things on one's computer one doesn't want others to know about. If I want to set up a computer in such a way people will never figure it out, I can.

Anyone can and you can also.

Ideally, you should be able to hack my computer and come back very disappointed because you didn't learn a thing or get any worthwhile information from it.

I run as root when running Linux and one day I might get around to putting a password on it.

I hope I've communicated one important concept to you. If you have questions, ask.


Kind regards,


Bruce

Bruce B

#14 Post by Bruce B »

Firewalls

Originally a firewall was to prevent unwanted, unauthorized or illicit inbound connections.

I don't use a firewall for Linux, but I would if I knew of one that monitored, tracked and controlled outbound connections.

My firewall is simply the NAT router which probably runs an old version of Linux which is too dumb to hack.

nooby
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#15 Post by nooby »

Bruce thanks for caring about my problem.

I do understand what you wrote there. Such things are important too.

But this time me want to solve specific things happening.

The computer has acted in a way it have not done since 2008 up to
some week ago.

So either it is a hardware issue, glitch due to spike from the mains or a trojan keylogger or a program somebody left on it after a break in or this was the break in wanting to snoop around or place some keylogger there.

So you say:
If you have questions, ask.
Yes I have a specific question.

Has you computer acted like I described. What caused it?

Have you read here or on other linux same behavior?
What did they think it is?

What kind of search word can I use. I fail to find a good word for the behavior.

The page is scrolling to the bottom of the html page and then the cursor and menu is taken over by a program or a live person and the only way to gain back control is to do ctrl+alt+backspace and then do reboot into other puppy and then it does not happen again until days later.

So sure it can be a hardware glitch something but have never read about that odd behavior before

How can I look in logs to find a clue what did happen.

I use the PB laptop in sig
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

Bruce B

#16 Post by Bruce B »

nooby wrote: So you say:
If you have questions, ask.
Yes I have a specific question.

Has you computer acted like I described. What caused it?
Some websites have programmers who are idiots, some are malicious. Very often the
designer doesn't test the site's pages on a variety of operating systems and browsers.

Javascript can raise, lower and resize the browser window AND do a lot, lot more. A
bad script can lock up the works.

You have enough experience now to install Puppy and modify the system to your
preferences. I advise setting your Puppy up the way you like and avoid the hostile
network, the Internet, during the setup. Make a copy of this setup for later use if needed.

The backup your setup is with fair confidence that it probably hasn't been compromised
due to the fact it hasn't been on the Internet.

The if you think the working copy has been compromised, save off any user files you
want to keep and revert to your virgin setup.

And yes, I've had my browser act in ways I wonder what exactly IS going on.

One way of looking at things is; it's just software, it doesn't cost us money, we enjoy
tinkering and learning. So what if it goes south. We put it back right and learn.

It is mostly a matter of time spent. And if we want to save time we can save initial
setups we like for later use if needed. Meaning to say: We don't always have to start
from scratch.

And in your case, (as well as my own), I sincerely think you enjoy tinkering and I'll go so
far as to suggest the computer helps to satisfy our need to tinker.

Bruce

Jasper

#17 Post by Jasper »

Hi nooby,

I don't know enough to be of any direct help. However this is an extract from the site that Lobster kindly advised earlier today:

Intrusion Detection
AFICK Monitor the changes on your filesystems
BASE Web front-end to query and analyze the alerts from a SNORT IDS system
Bro Passively monitors network traffic and looks for suspicious activity
Kismet Wireless network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system
OSSEC Open Source Host-based Intrusion Detection System
Sguil Analyst Console for Network Security Monitoring
SNARE System iNtrusion Analysis and Reporting Environment
Snort Network intrusion prevention and detection
Snort_inline Modified version of Snort
Tripwire Provides configuration audit and control features

The link is http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20080 ... urity.html

My regards

nooby
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#18 Post by nooby »

Wow, that was very many interesting tools to learn to use. I look into it.

Thanks indeed for listing them.

Ooops,

Edit but they are general Linux and not Puppy compatible maybe.

Okay I have Lupu now and also Debian Puppy so maybe they can get compatible
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8-bit
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#19 Post by 8-bit »

Could this all be a bad mouse problem?
The reason I ask is I had an optical usb mouse that developed and intermittent connection due to the connecting wire had flexed enough to cause wire fatigue.
It was driving me crazy as it exibited type of problems you describe.
I also at first thought someone was trying to access my PC.
I replaced the mouse and the problem was solved.

nooby
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#20 Post by nooby »

Thanks yes it could. I don't know enough about how it would behave but that seems very reasonable.

It is a used one and not a new one so it could have some glitches.

I look into it.

Very good that you retold your experience of how such faults can manifest themselves.

I maybe should buy a new one. They are not that expensive.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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