It was a long week-end last week and it was an opportunity to digress from the normal weekend activity. I decided to be an Internet junkie. Nothing really important to do, but to go randomly at each sites, and learn a new word, idea, or even, re-learn something that I used to know.
Bouncing from pages to pages, I noticed my surfing-speed became slower and slower until the cursor stopped moving. I must be trapped inside an infected web page. But I was been in this page and it was tamed and imitable, nothing extra-ordinary. Then I noticed my anti-virus system gone haywire. It kept on updating, without reaching completion. It continued for hours, until I decided to re-start the unit, and then run scan. But scanning led to more scary situation; it declared that my security system was compromised!
Pressing more buttons, the anti-virus system recommended to re-install the anti-virus CD. This was really hairy scary. It was just like saying, 'I surrender!' My defenders surrendered to the faceless foe, possibly already wrecking havoc in my computer. This was panic time!
As if the a noose was tightening, I pressed more buttons, as if asking for more. And I ended-up to a not so familiar window: the 'Log-viewer' window. Ah, this was new to me, a list of intruders, or other systems, or persons that wanted to go inside my computer. Interestingly, there was an option to trace the intruders. Tracing, is essentially pinging or releasing a sharp sound or signal to echo-locate the source of intrusion. More like in the submarine: one can measure the distance of an enemy submarine by the measuring the time the sound travelled back from the enemy.
Internet pinging not only identify the location of the intruder, but could identify their URL or network locator identification; even giving their office address, personal name and telefone number. This was great indeed. But knowing the identity was only half the winning. It was like winning a lotto ticket. As most of lotto winners realized, winning the ticket is not winning. It just gave you an opportunity to own big money. Winning is safely getting the priced money from the bank to one's pocket.
And I gave the intruder a chase by releasing a series of pings. Below are results:
The intruders are from my country, with office address at Makati City. There were Mr. Abarquez and Mr. Vinluan. I was fumed seeing them intruding into my system. But a close examination of their identities, they seem to be working for my Internet service provider. Damn! It made me more mad. They might be using the company's infrastructure to steal other people's identities, worse if money!
I started to dial their numbers to yank dirty protests. But thinking again, it seemed better to report them to Internet provider's 24-hr customer service, than directly confront them. It is like using a police blotter. Issuing a blotter may deter future intrusion, at the same time, I would be protected that may fall-out from direct confrontation.
Calling the 24-hr hot-line may not also be a good idea, specially when you try to explain the problem to a newbie, just like me. But betting to a direct fight and running the risk of vendetta from computer-raiders, was surely a sure toss-to-lose. So calling a call-agent for help, may not be a bad idea at all.
The call agent was a woman. I explained to her my problem, and relayed to her the names of the intruders' details, emails, and, office addresses. I am expecting the usual answer like, 'Thank you sir, we will look into this asap.' And then what! Nothing. But interestingly, she told me to wait, and she will confirm the identities of these people.
After listening to a couple of telefone-songs, for waiting-callers, she returned and said, 'Sir, there is nothing to worry. These are our technician guys that take care our DSL servers. They care our server from any intruders, viruses, and other bad people that may interfere with our service.' But why they are trying to enter my system, I asked? She simply said, 'I think, they are just verifying subscribers of our DSL line. Some bad people tend to steal Internet time from paying customers, like putting illegal connections.'
That made sense. Robbers will never put their real names, addresses, and numbers, to steal other people's properties. For crime, anonymity is a bliss. Criminals do not need to win lotto numbers. They just need to steal the priced money from the bank.
Start: 29 October 2008 Wednesday 10:14pm
End: 31October 2008 Friday 6:40pm
@ home in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines
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