Hack Attack: Internet & Email Security - Knowledge Share Wednesday, 04/26/17, 1-4pm ET

It has been reported in the news that accounts on Yahoo have been hacked (three times, as my latest recollection) and since ATT's e-mail is included in that, how have att's customer been affected, and asside from changing passwords, security questions, etc. what efforts can we take to recover from those potential security violations?

@Dah333  Regardless of what anti-virus software suite you choose to use, you should always take a look at the default settings that are there when the software is first installed. Most likely, your McAfee is set for a default system scan when you first boot up your computer or log back into Windows. You can go into the software's settings and configure it to your liking, but if your processor is pinging at such high usage percentages on a consistent basis, it's probably due to the system scan being run by your AV software, e.g. McAfee.

Yep, @ATTKevin, great comment on the "common sense" factor, although I find even my highly-educated and/or good-common-sense friends/family are falling victim more often, the social-engineering part of the attacks is getting far more sophisticated now, something that has always plagued the AV protection issue.

Definitely on the UAC popup, if you're seeing that, after clicking on a link or similar, the sirens should go off (and don't click on the "Yes" to install), and you should immediately bail (and ideally scan your system).

I tell people NOT to run as Admin too, to run as a regular user, since you get better UAC protection that way.  Yeah, it's a bit more of a hassle, but far safer...

Hi @Tigereyze209,

Okay... this is tangentially related, but something I have been unable to get a clear definitive answer on: It is common knowledge that Yahoo, at least for the foreseeable future, provides ATT's e-mail service.

My question is, who actually does the day to day operations of the e-mail servers? (ATT or Yahoo?)

That is a good question. Both AT&T and Yahoo work together to ensure the E-mail functions properly.

As often happens, if an att customer who has an account that, for whatever reason, loses their password for, especiley the legacy accounts, who do they need to contact to see about getting that account reactivated? (Also, whatever information they might need to provide to verify ownership of that account.)

For an AT&T account - refer to AT&T
For a Yahoo account - refer to Yahoo
For a merged account - refer to AT&T

For the information that needs to be provided, we always suggest making sure the account is updated fully. We use the number associated with the account. If having any issues, you can always call in.

-ATTU-verseCare

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@Tigereyze209 wrote:

It has been reported in the news that accounts on Yahoo have been hacked (three times, as my latest recollection) and since ATT's e-mail is included in that, how have att's customer been affected, and asside from changing passwords, security questions, etc. what efforts can we take to recover from those potential security violations?

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I'd get a hotmail/outlook or GMail account, and use it for at least sensitive or two-factor methods on accounts you need to be really secure (not to mention adding two-factor to anything like an account password change).

Adding two-factor authentication to your account really cuts down on the blatant hijacks, in terms of people gaining absolute control over your account.

Also, NEVER, EVER click on a link in an email, that's going to take you to a "fix your account" or even "access" it.  

ALWAYS go directly to the (ideally bookmarked) page instead, and log-in, to see if there's "really a message about an account problem", as 99/100 times, there's not ;-]

Does ATT still trust Yahoo! to handle their customers' email?

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@ATTU-verseCare wrote:

Hi @Tigereyze209,

 

That is a good question. Both AT&T and Yahoo work together to ensure the E-mail functions properly.

 

As often happens, if an att customer who has an account that, for whatever reason, loses their password for, especiley the legacy accounts, who do they need to contact to see about getting that account reactivated? (Also, whatever information they might need to provide to verify ownership of that account.)

 

 Okay, I apologise. I can see I was a bit unclear.   I was mainly referring to legacy accounts in "free" status, and technically no longer entitled to in person support.. If their account is hacked, and the automated recovery options do not work, what are their options for account recover, if any?

 

As an ACE, I see a lot of posts in regards to this, and often, I honestly have no idea how to advise them.

 

Any feedback appreciated.

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Yep, @Dah333, and if it's things like "Service Host" or "Host Process for Windows tasks", then it gets a bit more involved, as those can sort of "obscure" the actual use, as they're Windows services responding to requests (either internal or from another app, like your AV).

This is where the multi-slice comes in, it often helps you "weed out" the Windows processes.

Switching to Defender briefly (just to check) and seeing if your perf is the same, is also a handy diagnostic method (a bit crude, but effective).

There are more in-depth diagnostics tools in-box for Windows, but they can get harder to set up, things like Perfmon, for example, TONS of granularity but almost too much, unless you set up the proper filters...