First of all, thank you all very much. I feel that my laptop is safe and I
can finally get some work done.
Glad to hear that.
There was a switch on the bottom, but it wasn't a toggle. It slid and
snapped back, like the kind that release something so it can be opened. But
it didn't seem to be connected to anything. It wasn't mentioned in the
literature accompanying the computer.
My Dell D620 has one of those. Other computers have a virtual switch that
you activate by using the FN key and one of the keys on the keyboard. I can't
think of a single laptop that does not have a hardware switch to turn off the
wireless stack though.
Could
you get into my computer if I were using wireless to access the Internet? Do
you know anyone who could?
First, the question you ask has nothing to do with wireless. From where I
am, it makes no difference whether you are using wireless or wired
networking. Wired v. wireless only matters if I am in the vicinity of your
computer and you have an improperly secured wireless network. Even if that
were the case, the worst I could do with it would be to see what traffic you
send and receive, and probably modify it. That's the extent of where wireless
makes a difference. Even on some wired networks I can do the same, so it
really makes very little difference.
A properly secured wireless network is every bit as safe as a wired network,
even more so in some circumstances. If you build one at home, make sure you
get one that supports the WPA2 protocol, and then make sure you implement it.
I do not know of a single wireless router that implements it by default but
the manuals always tell you how.
A public wireless network is exactly that - public. On that network someone
that is in the vicinity can see your traffic. If your traffic is not
sensitive, that won't matter. If your traffic is encrypted, such as web-based
shopping usually is, then they can't see it.
As for whether I, or someone else, can get into your computer: yes, that is
possible, but it has nothing to do with wired v. wireless. The easiest way
would be to send you an e-mail with some kind of malicious attachment and
fool you into opening it. You sound like the paranoid type though, so that
may not work. If not, then usually the attacker would resort to using
unpatched vulnerabilities, and if you keep up to date on patches, and you
have a firewall, the job is very difficult.
The person who is hacking me is obviously a computer professional.
Hmm. Are you saying that you are being hacked? What do you base that
assessment on?
He knows
Microsoft totally. No firewall or antivirus has ever been able to keep him
out for more than a few hours. I had to turn off automatic updates because he
inserted a virus disguised as an update.
I can tell you that it is virtually impossible to insert a virus disguised
as a Microsoft update, using Automatic Updates. The system is designed to
reject any such updates. Your computer verifies that all updates deployed
using Automatic Updates come from Microsoft and rejects them otherwise.
He doesn't use viruses to control my computer. He does stuff that I might
conceivably do if I were a "power user." I'm not sure if I can even explain
this example, but you might be familiar with it. I caught it because I have
an earlier version of MSWord. I found Version 8 in the Administrator's area.
He set up some weird program that sent everything from my computer, including
my thumb drive, to an Outlook Express page, which he could access. I think he
somehow used Word as a server. This is way over my head. I'm just guessing.
I really do not understand what is happening here or what you are basing
these conclusions on. What you are saying does not entirely make sense. It is
extremely rare for a home user (I am assuming you are a home user) to be
specifically targeted; if you have been attacked it is likely with something
non-specific to you. Regardless, if you believe you have been attacked, or
are under attack, I would highly recommend you call Microsoft's security help
line. They can help figure out what is going on much more easily than any of
us can in the newsgroups. If you are in the U.S. or Canada the phone number
is 866-PC-SAFETY. If you are elsewhere in the world, go here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/gp/securityhome, and select your
region on the right-hand side to get the number in your part of the world.
Security support is free.
