Stupid Brother

Alright, so I just built this computer about three weeks ago. It's an economically practicle gaming rig, and so far I've enjoyed its performance. However, I let my little brother play on it because he kept begging me with his little puppy eyes. So today I wake up to hear that some hacks he downloaded have allowed remote access to my files and microphone. Not only this, when I started the system three My Computer windows would pop up. Needless to say, useless Norton found a single tracking cookie, and after a safe mode system restore, the forms stopped popping up at startup. However, I'm worried that it's lurking.

I'm running windows 7 Ultimate on a fixed-line connection. Anyone have any advice to ease my paranoid self?

Edited by Society, 14 March 2010 - 11:44 AM.

Society -

The only way my own paranoia would be satisfied would be to nuke the system and reinstall. By the time you scan and go looking for any nasties on it you could have it cleaned off and everything installed again. Given that it's only 3 weeks into it's lifetime there can't be much on it that would need backing up. Why take the chance?

As for "little brother" he needs a password put on your system just for posterity. I guess I'm spoiled because no one but me touches my computers. They do enough strange things on their own without little fingers messing around with them!

Just my 2 cents - nuke it and sleep easier.

I believe you have some malware on your machine. So you have 2 options: 1 you can remove the malware with the programs and help that is here, or the other is you can wipe the drive clean and start from scratch. My recommendation is that you just wipe the drive clean if there is not a lot a data on it. When you do I suggest that you setup a user with standard privileges for your brother and put some pretty stiff parental controls on it. It comes down to it's your computer and you are letting him use it as a privilege.

ubyte

It does appear you have picked up a rootkit or Backddor infection. hacks ,cracks.P2p are great locations for getting malwate on board.
I agree with the above advice and setting them to a limited user account.

Rootkits, backdoor Trojans, Botnets, and IRC Bots are very dangerous because they compromise system integrity by making changes that allow it to by used by the attacker for malicious purposes. Rootkits are used by Trojans to conceal its presence (hide from view) in order to prevent detection of an attacker's software and make removal more difficult. Many rootkits can hook into the Windows 32-bit kernel, and patch several APIs to hide new registry keys and files they install. They can disable your anti-virus and security tools to prevent detection and removal. Remote attackers use backdoors as a means of accessing and taking control of a computer that bypasses security mechanisms. This type of exploit allows them to steal sensitive information like passwords, personal and financial data which is send back to the hacker. To learn more about these types of infections, you can refer to:

What danger is presented by rootkits?
Rootkits and how to combat them
r00tkit Analysis: What Is A Rootkit

If your computer was used for online banking, has credit card information or other sensitive data on it, you should disconnect from the Internet until your system is cleaned. All passwords should be changed immediately to include those used for banking, email, eBay, paypal and online forums. You should consider them to be compromised and change each password using a clean computer, not the infected one. If not, an attacker may get the new passwords and transaction information. If using a router, you need to reset it with a strong logon/password so the malware cannot gain control before connect again. Banking and credit card institutions should be notified of the possible security breach. Because your computer was compromised please read:

How Do I Handle Possible Identify Theft, Internet Fraud and CC Fraud?
What Should I Do If I've Become A Victim Of Identity Theft?
Identity Theft Victims Guide - What to do



Although the infection has been identified and may be removed, your PC has likely been compromised and there is no way to be sure the computer can ever be trusted again. It is dangerous and incorrect to assume the computer is secure even if the malware appears to have been removed. In some instances an infection may have caused so much damage to your system that it cannot be completely cleaned or repaired so you can never be sure that you have completely removed a rootkit. The malware may leave so many remnants behind that security tools cannot find them. Tools that claim to be able to remove rootkits cannot guarantee that all traces of it will be removed. Many experts in the security community believe that once infected with this type of malware, the best course of action is to wipe the drive clean, reformat and reinstall the OS. Please read:

When should I re-format? How should I reinstall?
Help: I Got Hacked. Now What Do I Do?
Where to draw the line? When to recommend a format and reinstall?

Edited by boopme, 14 March 2010 - 10:13 PM.