What's with these regular "I was hacked"? threads?

Some of the threads are pure disillusionment. Some posters firmly believe they can be hacked in esoteric ways without a network connection. My personal belief is those are not due to ignorance of how things work of even lack of knowledge or experience, mainly because the posters argue and refuse to acknowledge how ludicrous the posts seem. The hacks from some posters are simply "magic" and they refuse to believe anything to the contrary. I lump those into mental illness, as un-politically correct as that may be. I have experience with someone who suffered from drug induced mental illness and they were exactly the same way: expressed extreme delusions about technical "hacks" that were literally impossible.

Not saying all are lumped into this category but it is a possibility that at least some could be.

I can't say if the people are nuts but I can say that people who have no/little technical ability tend to think that way. They see some web page suggest they are hacked and maybe somebody they know suggested it but in all cases I think it is the limited technical skills of these folks. They are usually just regular people who have no desire to become a genius on computers. They are just trying to get along in life.

The news and sales pitches offer help for being hacked. It is real as we all should know that crooks out there are stealing information by the truckload. I have worked with users of computers for 35 years. They almost all have one thing in common. They know a little bit about computers. They read some article. They have some friend they seem to trust. They watch tv and radio for news and begin to worry.

For the typical linux power user the unexplained issues are testable and definable. Even modest linux users tend to search out solutions to issues.

I don't like to insult them since I assume they are not trying being kooks. If they did have a mental illness then what good is it to be mean to them?

Agreed and I am not trying to be mean. I just get frustrated with impossible situations ( kobiashi maru!?) that are unanswerable.

Originally Posted by sgosnell These threads are all the result of the same thing. Ignorance and FUD. Plus the belief that they are always right, even if they have no clue about the subject. This will only increase with time.

Not all of them. Perhaps a majority, but some are examples of an actual hack/break-in attempt (often by a script or malware engine). Some users who complain of such things are open minded and willing to learn. Do not let the few unwilling to listen make you jaded and cynical.

Originally Posted by wpeckham Not all of them. Perhaps a majority, but some are examples of an actual hack/break-in attempt (often by a script or malware engine).

True!
The "fakes" (for wont of a better word) are drowning the real topics, endangering those that really need help with an infected machine.

It usually doesn't take long to tell the few genuine examples from the tinfoil hat types. I haven't seen a genuine malware instance on Linux thread in a very long time. Not that they don't exist, but they don't happen often.

Originally Posted by sgosnell It usually doesn't take long to tell the few genuine examples from the tinfoil hat types. I haven't seen a genuine malware instance on Linux thread in a very long time. Not that they don't exist, but they don't happen often.

True, but we did see a creditable "my neighbor hacked me" kind of thread only about two years ago. We could neither conform or disprove, but it MAY have been real. All we could do was advise on recovery and prevention IN CASE it was real. I felt good about that, because the advice we gave was correct and useful no matter WHAT caused the symptoms.

Originally Posted by dugan I assume you've changed your password since then?

YES.
the strange text disappeared also. Is this a good sign or a bad sign?

Bumping this because we have an "I've been hacked" thread going on right now...

There was a famous discussion on Reddit where someone was finding weird post-it notes and wondering how to catch the intruder who left them. It turned out that the OP was leaving the notes himself, and was being confused by a carbon monoxide leak.

When Reddit gets nonsensical "I've been hacked" posts now, "check for carbon monoxide" is usually one of the first suggestions.

The discussion in question:

• [MA] Post-it notes left in apartment.
• [UPDATE!] [MA] Post-it notes left in apartment.

Note that carbon monoxide is an established explanation of haunted houses (as noted in the Wikipedia article on "Haunted house").

For the record, this is what it looks like if a hacker is actually harassing you:

Meet the men who spy on women through their webcams

I nearly was laughing myself silly at a possible discovery. I'm not a big TV person at all, in fact I don't believe I've turned on a TV in months, plus we don't have cable, just streaming or whatever air channels we can receive, albeit with no antenna so it has to be pretty strong signal.

Anyways, spent a few days with a relative because they're old and they need a companion and the regular companion needed to be away. This relative also was watching endlessly, streaming shows and series on Netflix mainly, but other ones.

TO A TEE! About 150% of these shows had conspiracy, hack suspicions, and etc. A lot of them were mysteries, thrillers, or investigative cop/fed/whatever types of shows. And they were filled with plot twists. I just kept hearing things in the other room while I was working and I hear stuff like a plot twist where they catch up with the strongest suspect, corner them for a discussion and that person admits that very likely their users and usernames were exactly the focus of the suspicious activity, usually involving sex crimes or murder, but the plot twist was that someone had hacked their life etc, etc, etc.

Honestly it was amazing, nearly every show I heard enough to pay attention to, had something like this in it.

All I could think of was this discussion and variety of "I've been hacked" claims we see. Brought a tear to my eye.

Addendum: This is as funny as several years earlier, my wife would watch the show Cops and same thing I'd hear the dialog and it would be so funny. They'd find some person, guy usually who was shirtless and wearing no shoes, clearly painted to be a druggie. And the cops would question why they were hanging around some place at 3 AM or whatever, eventually they'd ask them if they were carrying any drugs or weapons and they'd frisk them, and lo and behold they'd find drugs. And then invariably the perp would say, and I quote, "These aren't my pants". That would just knock me off my chair laughing. I had a restrained same reaction to hearing all those streaming series, nefarious "I've been hacked" shows.

Maybe I didn't hit on the precise explanation, but I feel I sure found a smoking gun.

Posts #40 & #41: interesting context. It sure seems like the blueprints for most of our "I was hacked" threads stem from these sources.

I notice in the ArsTechnica article a lot of Windows XP. I'm sure Windows have tightened security since then (but still keep that door open for remote maintenance).

Much less likely on Linux machines. But we do take each of these threads seriously, at least until OP refuses to provide details fro reasons that seem to come straight from daytime TV.

rtmistler, yes there were programnes like that when I was a kid - but the difference was that they were for kids. Implausible plot twists and serialised with cliff hanger endings to keep the viewer on the hook.

Nowadays Adults watch the same thing dressed up as mature drama. In most cases it's dross and throwaway sensationalism for the distraction of the gullible. It will be recycled over and over again - the same tired formula. Rinse and repeat.

I remember the "X Files" in the 90's, though I wasn't a fan, and trying to convince a former colleague that it wasn't based on any facts or leaked files...

I had similar conversations with regards to the Da Vinci Code. I remember someone telling me all about in detail and what it had "exposed"...

The same applies to sci fi "hacking" you see in Hollywood - it's convincing enough that the uninitiated will fall for it...

Originally Posted by cynwulf rtmistler, yes there were programnes like that when I was a kid - but the difference was that they were for kids.

"I would've got away with it too if it weren't for those meddling kids and their dog!" -- Any criminal on Scooby Doo.

Yes, things seemed to be patently obvious even when I was a kid, also with other mystery shows like Perry Mason or ones way back. I guess they felt they need to turn it up several notches these days.

So there's no need for antivirus software. I'm new to Linux. I read that no such protection was necessary, that viral attacks on Linux were rare. I haven't looked into any kind of viral shield so far, and I'd prefer not to have to do this. Is there any kind of safeguard I should be taking. I'd prefer to spend my time learning more about Linux than worrying about hackers. Thanks for the post. I suspect you're right on.