Phishing - Stopping Hard-drive File theft

G

Grenspleen

Registered
Is there any way of ensuring no one is accessing my hard drive and downloading my files when I'm online?

I have just made the mistake of replying to an email request from what I thought was my online bank - and stupidly gave out my log on information. I contacted my bank who confirmed this was a fraudulant email. Thankfully they have blocked my accounts. But I was told the fraudsters could have infected my computer with a virus - enabling them to get files from my hard drive when online.

I have an Intel core duo iMac with Leopard OS. Is there a way to check if anyone is accessing my files or block access when online?
 
The logs - the system log will reveal oddities if there are any present.

If you were using the Mac OS X side (and not accessing the bank from a Windows virtual machine), the likelyhood of you being infected with a virus is zero. There has yet been no proper virus for Mac OS X out there - and the Mac pre-X viruses are obsolete, and would not even run on your system.

Install Little Snitch, this will give you some peace of mind
http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html

When configured correctly, you can define each and every application and process that wants to connect to the internet, and decide whether they connect to one or any or which addresses or ports they can connect to.
 
Thanks for both replies. I registered with PhishTank the URL of the page I was directed to - which no longer shows the fake bank account login page - but a haulage company page.

I don't use a separate Windows Operating system.

However, I don't know how to view logs. Where do I find them?
 
/Applications/Utilities, there is an application called Console. With that you can see e.g. system log files. For a non-geek most lines there don't make much sense, so Little Snitch is probably better for you - it will define what can go in and out. You decide each and every rule with it.
 
Grenspleen said:
. However, I don't know how to view logs. Where do I find them?
Click to expand...

That's easy. Go to the folder /Applications/Utilities/ and find the application "Console". The Mac screams at Users, they just don't listen. :)

Now as new user you might hear fanboys Mac never need maintenance, but they are fools. The Mac does need periodic maintenance to keep the OS x running like almost new. Luckily open source people like OS X and made IMHO two free/donationware maintenance applications, Yasu or Onyx. running the cleaning routines once about every two months and after major software updates is smart and will keep your OS X Mac running almost like new (short of a hardware failure).

If you are wondering more about the OS X logs read the tech article Running the Mac OS X maintenance scripts. It will give you an idea about the BSD core logs and how to manually maintain them.

Now here are some preventive old Mac trouble shooting tips to remember. If your Mac is having USB/Firewire issues one trick is to Reset Your PRAM. Doing this is easy and is an old trouble shooting tip, so remember it for the future. Also if you ever want to share files with a windows machine check out the article (for the how to) Sharing files between a Windows Vista Home Edition PC and a Mac running OS X Leopard 10.5. It is very informative on the subject.

Lastly as a new OS x user I highly recommend the cheap book Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition. I almost think if someone reads this book and as tech minded hat that they will get a leg up on OS X reading this book.

One more thing on top of the PhishTank site. Use the OpenDNS.com service. They even have a video on how to use the site to it fullest. IMHO is makes navigating the net almost trouble free and safe again, plus it kind of speeds up the browsing experience with DNS caching. It us a much better DNS then the neglected ISP DNS service. You find it out pretty quick the ISPs really do not understand modern DNS and it's advantages.
 
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One more thing. With the modern Phishing news targeting OS X all OS X users have to remember is never trust a site that says you need a QuickTime plugin to view a stupid video. As a current Mac user all the QuickTime plugins a typical OX users needs right now is Flip4Mac (you will never be able to view the DRM laden Windows Media 10+, that is why you almost never see it anywhere on the net today) and Perian. With these two QuickTime plugins you will be able to see 98% of all the video on the net today. Along with Flash Player (just remembr to use the included Adobe Flash de-installer to zap the previous version of Flash before upgrading Flash Player. I think that is the included Adobe README file only if OS X users would ever read it once in a while.

Lastly with the last Phishing scam a free remover (DNSChanger Removal Tool - 1.1) was made to remove it if one was stupidly affected (since the Phishing attack was hosted on a p0rn site).

Plus if you want a Lojack type system for Mac portal read article Undercover: Like LoJack For Your Mac.
 
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