I think I've been hacked!

Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
This is my first post, and I come to Mac Forums to confess, in all humility, that I was using bit torrent peer-to-peer download software, and I'm pretty sure thats were my problem came from. 'Serves him right' I hear you say, well I've learned my lesson, but now Photoshop wont launch, Safari 3 quits even more than usual and I can't download anything that doesn't use a dedicated software updater.I've run maintainence and cleaning routines and anti virus software, I've also reinstalled the OS (10.4.11) and all affected software but the problem stands firm. I think I've traced the problem,or part of it, to the firewall. When I try to access it I'm told that there is another third party firewall application running, although I've not installed one, and I must first remove it before I can work further. I'd be gretefull for some help with the solution. Has this happened to anyone else?
Kind replies invited.
Paul
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
305
Reaction score
1
Points
18
Location
Canada
Your Mac's Specs
iMac 24" 2.4GHz 2GB RAM 320GB HD
ahhh that sucks man. but since u reinstalled the os, shouldn't the program be gone??

what were u downloading, if i may ask? was it an app? :S

good luck fixing the problem, i'm sure to be careful with p2p software. :scared:
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
8,967
Reaction score
287
Points
83
Location
London
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini Core i7 2012 | White 2009 MacBook 2 Ghz | 733 Mhz G4 Quicksilver
Could you possibly run Activity Monitor in Applications > Utilities and post a pic of what is running on the mac?

 
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
9,065
Reaction score
331
Points
83
Location
Munich
Your Mac's Specs
Aluminium Macbook 2.4 Ghz 4GB RAM, SSD 24" Samsung Display, iPhone 4, iPad 2
Launch activity monitor (Apps > Utilities) and select to view "All Processes".

There will be a ton of processes there that you won't know, but does anything jump out at you?

Or post a screenshot here!

Edit: Haha louishen beat me to it!
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2007
Messages
250
Reaction score
18
Points
18
Location
St Helens, OR, USA
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook CoreDuo 2Ghz 768M RAM
Can you explain what you mean when you say "when I access the firewall"?

I would like to know what you mean by this as well.
You shouldn't be "accessing the firewall". With OS X, by nature, everything should be transparent. Just browse the internet, no need to stop by the firewall and say, "Hi there, Firewall. Can I go on the internet now?" ;D
 

dtravis7


Retired Staff
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
30,133
Reaction score
703
Points
113
Location
Modesto, Ca.
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
If you really did get something from using a p2p client, a new install would have taken care of it. Did you do an Erase and Install or an Upgrade?
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
305
Reaction score
1
Points
18
Location
Canada
Your Mac's Specs
iMac 24" 2.4GHz 2GB RAM 320GB HD
I would like to know what you mean by this as well.
You shouldn't be "accessing the firewall". With OS X, by nature, everything should be transparent. Just browse the internet, no need to stop by the firewall and say, "Hi there, Firewall. Can I go on the internet now?" ;D

i think he means he went to system preferences and to security and firewall tab... i think
 
OP
A
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I've been hacked!

recently (to cut a long story short), on a long net surf, after a lot of downloading and a restart I noticed a change. I'd lost the ability to download, and I realised it was specific in some ways - I can't now download software unless it's through the Mac Software Update for example. I've tracked the problem to the firewall, but whenever I try to access it I'm told that there is a 3rd party firewall app installed and that I must remove that first. But, I've not installed any firewall software, not deliberately anyway (meaning this is some sort of trojan). Whenever I scan with an antivirus app (that I bought After the problem occured) I get the all clear. I examined my firewall settings through my System Profiler utility and all of my connections except 'Network Time' and Blizzard downloaders are 'Denied', filesharing and everything else is blocked. Can someone help me get my firewall back?
iBook G4 1.2Ghz, 1.28Gb RAM, OS X10.4.11
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Do you have a third-party download acceleration application installed? Have you tried creating another user account (for testing purposes), logging in and seeing if you can download in the new user account?
 
OP
A
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
By 'access the firewall' I mean via System Preferences/Sharing/Firewall, and when I click on firewall a dropdown sign appears telling me to remove the 3rd party firewall software before I can get to my firewall controls.
 
OP
A
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I was downloading music, simply a try before you buy thing. But no, strangely, the problem wasn't rectified when I reinstalled the OS.
Thanx
 
OP
A
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I don't know how to take or post a screen shot (it's 'f12' I think but on my iBook that key only seems to eject discs), but I checked out Activity Monitor and I'm still looking at one or two things but there doesn't seem to be anything terribly obvious.
Thanx for your comment
 
OP
A
Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hi, no I don't have a speed download app, and yes I've tried the test account but things are the same. This is all very strange. A moment ago I went to my firewall to check something and the 3rd party software seems to be gone, and I now have control of my firewall settings. But I still don't seem to be able to download at will and my crippled applications are still crippled (Photoshop & Azureus), and Safari still quits when I blink.
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Messages
125
Reaction score
5
Points
18
Location
Edmonton, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
15" MacBook Pro, 12" iBook G4, 14" iBook G4 running Ubuntu 7.10
To answer dtravis7's question, I re-installed and upgraded, I didn't erase.
Thanx

I doubt that you have been hacked, but if you really want to be sure, I would suggest that you completely re-install your os. This is always the safest bet if you suspect anything, not to mention that it will fix anything software related..hehe ;D

And by completely re-install I mean erase...don't forget to back-up your files first
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top