Please, if you don't already have them, download, update and run AdAware and
SpyBot S & D.
There is an unbelievable nomber of hijackers out on the internet that will
do what you describe.  Leave your computer running all night connected to a
phone line and you'll get a expensive surprise in your mail box with the
next phone bill!  This stuff is robbing computer users in Brazil too.
Howard Rubin
The Computer  Doctor
Fortaleza, Brazil



RE:  Date:    Thu, 18 Sep 2003 16:05:49 -0700
From:    Al Thompson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: New Network appeared in Zone Alarm (SOLVED?)

Just call me Ian, since I'm answering my own post <grin>...

After digging a little more, I found a 'zzzline' dialup connection in
'Control Panel / Dial-up Networking'. There
were some strange properties surrounding this connection - a 9 digit phone
number to connect to the ISP, and the
user name was 'mds-gratis'. Since we were on cable at the time, it seems
highly unlikely anyone here would (or
could) have set up a dial-up connection. ( Especially as I have my Lucent
56k modem disabled in the BIOS ). On the
other hand, it seems even more unlikely that a hacker would have bothered to
create a dial-up connection - if he /
she had gotten in, there was already a cable connection to use, so why
bother with dial-up? It's entirely possible,
however unlikely, that I inadvertently created the dial-up connection
myself. Which is what I'll have to assume
happened, if no one else has had this happen and can explain it. So my
questions are:

1.) Anyone know of any programs that could have set up a dial-up connection
without my knowledge?
2.) Has Zone Alarm become a target or a liability with regard to security
(has it been hacked?).

Thanks for your thoughts,

                         PCSOFT's List Owner's:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                       Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>