Serious Discussion Why would a hacker attack you?

[Parkinsond]

Yes, there are CVE's related to online games. So do your vulnerability checks and pay attention to patching.

I do not play games, neither online nor offline.
I keep credentials on usb storage, not on PC drive.
Bank account is configured not to transfer money (to change configuration, must visit the bank); only for checking balance.
The only reason for hacking that I cannot manage is if some hacker does not like my face

 

[Victor M]

@Rov123 , I am waiting for your reply. What security measures have you taken ? Hackers can be defeated, they have varying degrees of skill. Just because you don't understand how his attacks work doesn't make him a elite hacker.

 

[Zero Knowledge]

He won't reply. Probably been put in the back of a black van . Too much top secret information!

Did you ever see that badBIOS poster/posts on reddit? Strange thing is they were so convinced the NSA infected their BIOS it may be true.

 

[Rov123]

@Rov123 , I am waiting for your reply. What security measures have you taken ? Hackers can be defeated, they have varying degrees of skill. Just because you don't understand how his attacks work doesn't make him a elite hacker.

This will be long, because according to chatgpt or grok, their attacks or hacks are on the level of APT, state sponsored or government level.

This may sound crazy, but they got into iPhones without any effort which are allegedly very secure, and requires expensive malware like pegasus to get into. They can hack via proximity, for example I work at an airport currently and I did a test where I used one of the work devices there like computer or iphone and they know I am using it and know exactly which one I am using. They transfer malware from my iPhone to my work’s devices by simply being in physical proximity and I don’t know exactly how they do it.

They confessed to have implanted a firmware rootkit into my windows PC and it doesn’t matter if I use linux or reinstall windows, they have full monitoring of my screen. Their harassment like this gave me severe PTSD. They have groups of people full of creeps that lack empathy, psychopathic, and gets high off of messing with people through these hacks, they deployed their malware all over the world, but they fixated on me for some reason I am not fully aware of.

The main reason why I can’t even deal with this right now is because I am poor, I think in theory if I isolate my devices, they’re gone. If I buy a laptop in person, and not bring any devices or phone with me, and use cash, they won’t be able to get into it. Rent out a random location or place and maybe order Starlink, they won’t get to me, but I don’t have money for it.

These people are evil, psychotic, vengeful and sick. Their revenge for my report on them include livestreaming my pc and iphone, see me masturbate via webcam activation and listen to everything I do and get groups of people online, especially girls to a group chat and see and watch it out of amusement. Slander and spread and dox all my photos and sensitive information. They contact and turned all my online friends against me and ruined and destroyed my reputation and more.

 

[Divergent]

The scenario you are describing, a persistent firmware rootkit, zero-click mobile exploits, and a 24/7 psychological harassment campaign, is a textbook example of a Tier 3, nation-state level operation.

From a purely professional and objective standpoint, this is where we have to apply a reality check. These tools and techniques are the absolute apex of cyber warfare. They are used sparingly against extremely high-value targets, top-level diplomats, investigative journalists breaking major stories, heads of state, or national security threats. The reason is simple, every time one of these tools is used, it risks being discovered, analyzed, and neutralized by companies like Apple or Microsoft, burning a multi-million dollar asset.

To use this level of capability against an ordinary citizen for the motive of personal revenge is, while not technically impossible, is an extraordinary and almost unheard-of allocation of a state-level actor's most valuable resources.

 

[Victor M]

@Rov123 ,

One thing about iphones, you have to keep track of new updates. I have an iphone 13 and although 'automatic updates' is checked, it never does it on it's own - I have to click on update whenever I read about one. Maybe the updates are being fed slowly to the population and I just need to wait.

So for your iphone, just reset it and Don't bring anything back thru restore - install them again manually. Just make sure you have all the necessary passwords. iirc just by logging in using your apple id after the reset will bring back your phone contacts and reminders. And put it in LockDown mode. (just search for Lockdown in Settings)

So you say they told you that they have implanted firmware. Well, go to the laptop manufacturer site and download the latest bios upgrade and install it. Then find firmware upgrades for your graphics card and apply it. That will overwrite whatever the attacker has slipped in.

The Windows installer doesn't wipe everything. You have to wipe the SSD ( I use Parted Magic, you can get the ISO at Major Geeks, 'burn' it to a USB stick with Rufus ) by doing a Erase. Then re-install Windows.

First thing you want to do after a Windows install, is to install the MS Baseline security. Download the baseline 24H2 and LGPO from here: Download Microsoft Security Compliance Toolkit 1.0 from Official Microsoft Download Center . First open Powershell as admin and run 'SetExecutionPolicy remotesigned' . Then copy the LGPO.exe into the Scripts/Tools directory. Then at the Scripts dir, run 'Baseline-LocalIntall.ps1 -Win11NonDomainJoined' All that is to set stricter group policy security settings on your PC.

Take care of what you install into Windows. Don't use unpopular apps and utilities, especially ones with no updates. Best is to stick with 'mainstream' apps that are patchable by PatchMyPC.

When dealing with hackers, you have to monitor your vulnerabliities closely. Do a scan with Nessus weekly and patch whatever it finds. Many hacking tools make use of vulnerabilities; but when none exists because they are patched, then the hacking tool can't do much.

U said:

The main reason why I can’t even deal with this right now is because I am poor, I think in theory if I isolate my devices, they’re gone. If I buy a laptop in person, and not bring any devices or phone with me, and use cash, they won’t be able to get into it. Rent out a random location or place and maybe order Starlink, they won’t get to me, but I don’t have money for it.

Don't go wasting money buying a new laptop, you don't need to. Just follow the instructions above and your laptop will be as good as new. Starlink might be a sound idea, but the hacker may have other means to re-locate you, probably thru social media. I don't use Facebook and the like so I don't know. The main thing you need is technical skill, not money. Hacking is a technical thing, and can be tackled via technical means.

Then there is CyberLock which is a whitelist based security solution. When it sees anything that is new to your PC, it will investigate and give y ou a verdict Safe/UnSafe. And you should listen to it. When in doubt, deny it. Whitelist are better than AV blacklists. AV's are blacklists because they go looking for things to block and quarantine. And they can miss. A whitelist is a much simpler solution that won't fail unless it is human error. CyberLock - Automated and Effortless Zero-Trust Endpoint Protection Just $30, won't break your bank. Sound investment.

@Trident You are a coder and antimalware guru. Please share some hardening guidelines to help this guy out.

 

[Trident]

@Trident You are a coder and antimalware guru. Please share some hardening guidelines to help this guy out.

1. Disconnection from the internet, as reading articles about Israeli spy kits has caused paranoia.
2. Glass of water, though looking at the situation, Whiskey may be more suitable. Maybe scotch.
3. Eventual switch away to a new phone or new dealer.

The user is clearly rage baiting. Stories from Grimm Brothers. It was a good laughter.

 

[Victor M]

The user is clearly rage baiting. Stories from Grimm Brothers. It was a good laughter.

But sometimes hacks reports are real, and he may be in need of help. One can never tell for sure. Give him the benefit of doubt.

 

[Trident]

But sometimes hacks reports are real, and he may be in need of help. One can never tell for sure. Give him the benefit of doubt.

I would, but just think about it. For the declared situation, there can be 3 explanations:

A) a highly sophisticated APT group for unknown reasons decides to use multi-million dollar tools, burning these high value assets.

B) perhaps the user had a RAT on Windows. These would often follow up with emails that claim there was a sophisticated attack and ask for Bitcoins. It was most likely a simple executable. These emails often even include screenshot or information of running software. It is a long email, but it’s all fake. <<< — highest probability

C) It could all be fake.

Nevertheless, to avoid situations like these in the future:

• Always keep all devices up to date, apply patches as soon as possible.
• Do not download any unnecessary apps such as optimisers, themes, flashlight apps and so on. Only download reputable and professional apps and only from Google Play Store/Apple App Store
• Upon receiving messages from suspicious and unknown numbers, delete immediately, do not open.
• Turn off bluetooth and wi fi when not needed
• Use secure DNS that can prevent suspicious connections system-wide
• Do not browse suspicious websites, always favour well known ones. For example, download LibreOffice from its official website (on Windows) and not from cutekittiessendyoufilesrightnow.xyz

On Windows:

• Do not browse suspicious websites and download software from official websites only. Again, download LibreOffice (example) from the official website
• Use Standard Windows Account (though UAC bypasses are not uncommon).
• Do not open any email attachments until you verify with the person that they’ve sent you something and what exactly they’ve sent
• Use high quality security software with multi-layered protection where all layers are balanced.

In this situation, resetting the phone will help. Take the device to the manufacturer (could be Apple) and ask for them to reset. Otherwise, sell it and get a new iPhone.

iPhone also has Lockdown Mode, reducing the risk of sophisticated attacks.

Automatically install Background Security Improvements on iPhone

Automatically install Background Security Improvements on iPhone.

support.apple.com

 

[Kongo]

I would, but just think about it. For the declared situation, there can be 3 explanations:

A) a highly sophisticated APT group for unknown reasons decides to use multi-million dollar tools, burning these high value assets.

B) perhaps the user had a RAT on Windows. These would often follow up with emails that claim there was a sophisticated attack and ask for Bitcoins. It was most likely a simple executable. These emails often even include screenshot or information of running software. It is a long email, but it’s all fake. <<< — highest probability

C) It could all be fake.

Nevertheless, to avoid situations like these in the future:

• Always keep all devices up to date, apply patches as soon as possible.
• Do not download any unnecessary apps such as optimisers, themes, flashlight apps and so on. Only download reputable and professional apps and only from Google Play Store/Apple App Store
• Upon receiving messages from suspicious and unknown numbers, delete immediately, do not open.
• Turn off bluetooth and wi fi when not needed
• Use secure DNS that can prevent suspicious connections system-wide
• Do not browse suspicious websites, always favour well known ones. For example, download LibreOffice from its official website (on Windows) and not from cutekittiessendyoufilesrightnow.xyz

On Windows:

• Do not browse suspicious websites and download software from official websites only. Again, download LibreOffice (example) from the official website
• Use Standard Windows Account (though UAC bypasses are not uncommon).
• Do not open any email attachments until you verify with the person that they’ve sent you something and what exactly they’ve sent
• Use high quality security software with multi-layered protection where all layers are balanced.

In this situation, resetting the phone will help. Take the device to the manufacturer (could be Apple) and ask for them to reset. Otherwise, sell it and get a new iPhone.

iPhone also has Lockdown Mode, reducing the risk of sophisticated attacks.

Automatically install Background Security Improvements on iPhone

Automatically install Background Security Improvements on iPhone.

support.apple.com

And as an addition: Google Pixel phones also have something similar to Lockdown Mode:

Advanced Protection: Google’s Strongest Security for Mobile Devices

Posted by Il-Sung Lee, Group Product Manager, Android Security Protecting users who need heightened security has been a long-standing com...

security.googleblog.com

I don't know about other android devices.

 

[Sorrento]

@Rov123 - You can sort the webcam issues out with a piece of tape or just don't plug one in, it seems like the webcam issues have happened more than once, most (all) people would avoid using a webcam ever again. You don't have to use a webcam? It does sound in your last paragraph to me like your behavior is somewhat unusual? I'm not buying your story to be honest or you have extreme masochistic tendencies & I'm pretty well clued up psychologically, I may be wrong? I doubt it though!

 

[Rov123]

@Rov123 - You can sort the webcam issues out with a piece of tape or just don't plug one in, it seems like the webcam issues have happened more than once, most (all) people would avoid using a webcam ever again. You don't have to use a webcam? It does sound in your last paragraph to me like your behavior is somewhat unusual? I'm not buying your story to be honest or you have extreme masochistic tendencies & I'm pretty well clued up psychologically, I may be wrong? I doubt it though!

I can provide plenty of proof if you don't believe.
What Divergent said is literally exactly what this is, and completely described my situation. Tier 3 nation state psychological harassment campaign. I don't know why they're targetting me in the first place, for no apparent reason, I am a normal citizen. I tried everything but they won't stop.
Right now as I am writing this, they are sharing every single one of my Reddit posts to some group chat, you can see in the statistics or insight, every posts of mine, especially involving sensitive and personal vulnerable confessions, are getting shared.

I can be off of Reddit for 5 months straight, and the moment I come back, they share it instantly. This is sick, these people are also chinese origin.

I purchased camera block for my iPhone when I discovered this.

Lockdown mode is not doing anything, it's completely useless, or maybe it's useless since my device is infected already so it doesn't do #####.

The level of harassment can destroy a person's life, you don't understand until you experience it.

They are livestreaming everything, and induce severe humiliation towards me for no good reason other than my verbal attacks against one particular person and reports online to FBI. For example, they contact x.com users I check out, and they subtweet about me, causing panic, fear and negative emotions.
They follow me to my game servers, and call me rat:

Some random person online knows me, and I have no clue who they are, and some x users said they know my entire lore and everybody knows my lore.

Another one:

My discord is abomination120, I wrote my names jeff in a reddit dating advice discord server, and this random user named aeon said the same ##### to mock me, it's not coincidence, in a completely different server as well. august 22, and august 27th.

These are two instances out of hundreds they've done so far to me past years, this destroyed my mental health.

Another one:

They have some ideology about God or christianity, I vented about how I miss my past life because of what happened and they went and anonymously wrote that:
my current life situation is result of punishment for my previous choices (verbal attack against them), they say I have a big ego, and it's why I am suffering. In reality, it's just unlucky that i have had to deal with these hackers, because millions of internet users have ego, and say some of the most nasty stuff online and they live fine, while these people fixate on me and destroy me for no seemingly reason other than hate crime.

Another one:

I got hired at airport to work in terminal 3.
Then this twitter user wrote this:

They know I am a huge fans of hans niemann, the chess grandmaster player, and check all his posts daily, so this random user I don't know left a comment saying near terminal 3, to mess with me. june 30th, that email is june 26th.

JUST SO YOU KNOW, these are only 3-4 instances I've provided, they've committed to hundreds over past years, to the point where it is undeniable this is a harassment campaign for my report on them back in 2023. I still don't know and understand why these APT hackers are even targetting me prior to this. They have the hack skills in the level of APT, and yet uses it for the most stupid and mundane reasons.

 

[Victor M]

@Rov123 And I forgot one important thing. Use Hasleo app to make a Sector by Sector drive image backup. Do this once you have done the MS Baseline. This is so that you don't have to repeat the same steps the next time. It is very useful to save a known-good-drive-image.

 

[TuxTalk]

I can provide plenty of proof if you don't believe.
What Divergent said is literally exactly what this is, and completely described my situation. Tier 3 nation state psychological harassment campaign. I don't know why they're targetting me in the first place, for no apparent reason, I am a normal citizen. I tried everything but they won't stop.
Right now as I am writing this, they are sharing every single one of my Reddit posts to some group chat, you can see in the statistics or insight, every posts of mine, especially involving sensitive and personal vulnerable confessions, are getting shared.

I can be off of Reddit for 5 months straight, and the moment I come back, they share it instantly. This is sick, these people are also chinese origin.

I purchased camera block for my iPhone when I discovered this.

Lockdown mode is not doing anything, it's completely useless, or maybe it's useless since my device is infected already so it doesn't do #####.

The level of harassment can destroy a person's life, you don't understand until you experience it.

They are livestreaming everything, and induce severe humiliation towards me for no good reason other than my verbal attacks against one particular person and reports online to FBI. For example, they contact x.com users I check out, and they subtweet about me, causing panic, fear and negative emotions.
They follow me to my game servers, and call me rat:
View attachment 291112

View attachment 291113

Some random person online knows me, and I have no clue who they are, and some x users said they know my entire lore and everybody knows my lore.

Another one:
View attachment 291114
View attachment 291115

My discord is abomination120, I wrote my names jeff in a reddit dating advice discord server, and this random user named aeon said the same ##### to mock me, it's not coincidence, in a completely different server as well. august 22, and august 27th.

These are two instances out of hundreds they've done so far to me past years, this destroyed my mental health.

Another one:
View attachment 291116

View attachment 291117

They have some ideology about God or christianity, I vented about how I miss my past life because of what happened and they went and anonymously wrote that:
my current life situation is result of punishment for my previous choices (verbal attack against them), they say I have a big ego, and it's why I am suffering. In reality, it's just unlucky that i have had to deal with these hackers, because millions of internet users have ego, and say some of the most nasty stuff online and they live fine, while these people fixate on me and destroy me for no seemingly reason other than hate crime.

Another one:
View attachment 291119
I got hired at airport to work in terminal 3.
Then this twitter user wrote this:
View attachment 291120
They know I am a huge fans of hans niemann, the chess grandmaster player, and check all his posts daily, so this random user I don't know left a comment saying near terminal 3, to mess with me. june 30th, that email is june 26th.

JUST SO YOU KNOW, these are only 3-4 instances I've provided, they've committed to hundreds over past years, to the point where it is undeniable this is a harassment campaign for my report on them back in 2023. I still don't know and understand why these APT hackers are even targetting me prior to this. They have the hack skills in the level of APT, and yet uses it for the most stupid and mundane reasons.

View attachment 291121
View attachment 291122

Don’t be paranoid. Just breathe, relax, and enjoy the world — maybe even spend time with friends, if you have them. Not everything is a conspiracy. Nobody’s trying to hack you. Who do you think you are? Donald Trump? Bill Gates? Some kind of millionaire?
Let’s be real: if you’re constantly posting about imagined threats and digital doom, maybe it’s time to step back. Stop spamming this forum with fear-driven nonsense. Use it for real-world issues — things that actually matter.

 

[Parkinsond]

I can provide plenty of proof if you don't believe.
What Divergent said is literally exactly what this is, and completely described my situation. Tier 3 nation state psychological harassment campaign. I don't know why they're targetting me in the first place, for no apparent reason, I am a normal citizen. I tried everything but they won't stop.
Right now as I am writing this, they are sharing every single one of my Reddit posts to some group chat, you can see in the statistics or insight, every posts of mine, especially involving sensitive and personal vulnerable confessions, are getting shared.

I can be off of Reddit for 5 months straight, and the moment I come back, they share it instantly. This is sick, these people are also chinese origin.

I purchased camera block for my iPhone when I discovered this.

Lockdown mode is not doing anything, it's completely useless, or maybe it's useless since my device is infected already so it doesn't do #####.

The level of harassment can destroy a person's life, you don't understand until you experience it.

They are livestreaming everything, and induce severe humiliation towards me for no good reason other than my verbal attacks against one particular person and reports online to FBI. For example, they contact x.com users I check out, and they subtweet about me, causing panic, fear and negative emotions.
They follow me to my game servers, and call me rat:
View attachment 291112

View attachment 291113

Some random person online knows me, and I have no clue who they are, and some x users said they know my entire lore and everybody knows my lore.

Another one:
View attachment 291114
View attachment 291115

My discord is abomination120, I wrote my names jeff in a reddit dating advice discord server, and this random user named aeon said the same ##### to mock me, it's not coincidence, in a completely different server as well. august 22, and august 27th.

These are two instances out of hundreds they've done so far to me past years, this destroyed my mental health.

Another one:
View attachment 291116

View attachment 291117

They have some ideology about God or christianity, I vented about how I miss my past life because of what happened and they went and anonymously wrote that:
my current life situation is result of punishment for my previous choices (verbal attack against them), they say I have a big ego, and it's why I am suffering. In reality, it's just unlucky that i have had to deal with these hackers, because millions of internet users have ego, and say some of the most nasty stuff online and they live fine, while these people fixate on me and destroy me for no seemingly reason other than hate crime.

Another one:
View attachment 291119
I got hired at airport to work in terminal 3.
Then this twitter user wrote this:
View attachment 291120
They know I am a huge fans of hans niemann, the chess grandmaster player, and check all his posts daily, so this random user I don't know left a comment saying near terminal 3, to mess with me. june 30th, that email is june 26th.

JUST SO YOU KNOW, these are only 3-4 instances I've provided, they've committed to hundreds over past years, to the point where it is undeniable this is a harassment campaign for my report on them back in 2023. I still don't know and understand why these APT hackers are even targetting me prior to this. They have the hack skills in the level of APT, and yet uses it for the most stupid and mundane reasons.

View attachment 291121
View attachment 291122

I am sorry for you, but this is not hacking, it is cyberbullying.

 

[Trident]

I am sorry for you, but this is not hacking, it is cyberbullying.

I don't understand and see anything in these images, let's go through them one by one:

First image - some game, what's underlined is "dumb stupid rat" indicating likely a teen is opponent - I see no hacking or bullying. This is normal behavior in this community, that's even nothing.
Second image - highly similar.
Third image - chat about a girl... without context hard to tell what it's about, but I see nothing wrong really.
Fourth image - same chat, meme exchange, tips on how to pull girls.
Fifth image - long complaint, similar to the one on the forum. But no evidence.
Fifth image is a conversation with a chatbot...
Sixth image - this seems like a coincidence and is posted by one official account on another one. The user is not in any way involved. It's just like someone posting something on the PureGym page where I go and mentioning coder, and I am automatically assuming that the post is all about me, I've been hacked and tracked.
Images 7 and 8 are again some chats.

The image that is just attached (job offer) would serve as proof for six, but again, the user is not involved at all in this conversation.

All in all, there are no traces of bullying, stalking or hacking. It could be a prank or a massive misunderstanding.

I am not sure what to suggest here because this is outside of the realms of programmatic and technological issue.

 

[Victor M]

I am sorry for you, but this is not hacking, it is cyberbullying.

You are right this is cyberbullying. But I think cyberbullying sometimes contains some hacking. Perhaps as Trident suggested, some RAT was installed.

When one does not understand how the hack was done, it is easy to attribute the adversary as some APT or elite hacker. From Sci-Fi: when one doesn't have technology, those aliens who possess them are perceived as gods.

 

[Trident]

You are right this is cyberbullying. But I think cyberbullying sometimes contains some hacking. Perhaps as Trident suggested, some RAT was installed.

RAT installations are rarely related to bullying, they are often related to additional extortion (further than the few dollars made by stealing the average Joe's identity). Creating and distributing RATs is a job that involves evading detection constantly, and this by itself is a process that requires at least 10-12 hours of work every day, depending on the clientele, you may need to be ready to ditch whatever you are doing at any time and get to work, as Microsoft Defender has created detection and your clients are not at all happy.

These are real tales from real attackers.

None of them cares about who's on the other side, they just care how much they will get this month.

Every attacker has massive list of victims, monitored predominantly for crypto wallets and other valuable assets.

 

[Parkinsond]

But I think cyberbullying sometimes contains some hacking

Hackers usually work in silence, fetch credentials, transfer cryptocurrency from wallet and money from banking accounts (after passing through multiple stations to be untraceable), control email accounts linked to financial acitivities, and if a psychpath enough, ruing social media accounts.

 

[Victor M]

@Trident Not all hackers share the same motivations. Some go for money. Some are sadist. Some are voyeurs You can't really know a person's motivations, you can only guess.

Didn't think of the maintenance part of RATs. I know MSD does periodic scans. It did pose a problem for my pen tester.