Shoutbox

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Originally posted by Adeptus

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Originally posted by vaccination
No. Unnecessary hassle

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Formatting is not "unnecessary" by any means here and definitely the best idea yet.

This is different from a regular malware infection because there obviously is an individual actively controlling the machine.  Who knows what other backdoors they have set up by now and what else they have installed that the virus/spyware scanners have no clue about.

Although it sounds like this might be the doing of someone Vimto knows (most random "hackers" wouldn't be interested in revealing they have control of the computer) and it is a personal computer, this is a full-blown security compromise and the only true and proven response to that is wipe and format.  She could physically disconnect the computer from the net long enough to back up non-executable data files, but format is the only way to be sure this machine will be trustworthy ever again.

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I highly doubt it's a pro 'hacker' though, more than likely just a ex-friend who found out about it and wants to scare/piss her off. Most hackers don't try and remote control all their victims and then talk to them =p