*sigh* hacked, where do I go from here?

[LeapFrog]

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If you haven't ruled out a trojan/keylogger/rootkit/etc then you should know that every key stroke on that computer may be shared with "bad people".


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Yes, I have dl'ed some stuff recently, but I also run Adaware regularly, have macaffee firewall and antivirus. Is this not enough?

After this [censored] happened I also got Spybot S&D. Should all this stuff have caught a keylogger? I'm pretty sure that's how they got my password.

On a related note, I've heard of a good program that generates and maintains hard to guess random passwords. Link?

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Well Spybot and Adaware are certainly good products but I'm a serious nit about security. If my computer was compromised I would NEVER 'trust' it until the HD was reformatted.

My advice: use a known safe computer to change all your info again. If you are thinking about going to the police, do not use the hard drive of your computer again as if they decide to pursue this they will need it for an investigation.

If you do not go to the police/when you get HD back from them I recommend a reformat, its really the only way to be sure.

Some tips for staying safe:

use a firewall: ZoneAlarm for example.

virus/spyware scans weekly or so: (free examples) Spybot/Adaware/TrendMicro

active protection: Windows Defender/Snoopfree Privacy Shield

Also: RootkitRevealer and Hijackthis are pretty good programs. Hijackthis requires a bit of technical understanding (to use properly -- please be careful making any changes)

For password generation/storage I like KeePass.

edited to add: use a hardware firewall too, (router)