Security risk?

[Jackie]

On examining our telephone account details with Francetelecom.fr we have noted that a number of very short, just a few seconds, Internet telephone calls were recorded. The total cost was less than 2 Euros but should this be something to worry about. Our ISP connection is with AOL and we have an unlimited contract so there should not be any Internet telephone calls. Does this mean a dialer got installed on our machine?

We scan frequently with Adaware, Spybot and one or two other items of security software and do not yet have ADSL. At about the same time someone charged 1 Euro to our UK credit card account and this was picked up by the credit card company and the cards were cancelled and replaced, any connection? We also noticed a call to Holland which we know was not made by us, again only a few seconds. The last three digits of numbers dialed and listed in the Francetelecom info on the telephone account are not shown so is there anyway of revealing these? Most of the Internet calls were to the same number, anyone had a similar experience or can shed some light? Nothing shown since the middle of last month so maybe the threat, if there was one, has been removed. I would think that it would be worth checking the detail of your own Francetelecom account if you have not already done so, it is a free service.......Jackie and John

[Ecossais]

If you are using Internet Explorer 6, the following should allow you to check what number your PC is dialling when it connects to the internet.

·         Open IE6

·         Click on “Tools” (drop down menu) > "Connections"

You should then see your AOL account listed.  Click on “Settings” – you should see your User Name and Password (just as dots).  If you then click on “Properties” you should see the phone number the modem dials when connecting to AOL.

Check that the details are correct and that there are no other dial up numbers listed, unless you have, for example, UK and French ISP details stored.

[Jackie]

Many thanks for your response. On "Connections" a symbol of a phone is shown with the words AOL (Default). The "Never dial a connection " box has a dot in it. On "Settings" all the tick boxes are blank as are User name and Password boxes. Click on "Properties" and nothing shows! We have I.E 6 but don't know what this all means I am afraid. We only knowingly use I.E. 6 when looking at one or two secure sites that , for some reason, using AOL search engine gives problems like looping back to the site Log-on page when trying to look at details of some account or other.We use AOL 7 as the 8 and 9 versions give all sorts of other problems.........................Jackie and John  

[Cat]

Are your Spybot definitions up to date Jackie, the latest are dated 5th and 6th January?

It does sound as if you may have a dialler installed somewhere, is the AOL connection the only one that shows up in the Network Connection window?

Have you checked that the phone number on your AOL connection is the same as the one you were originally given, and has not been replaced with another?

 

[Pierre ZFP]

Really does sound like your machine is a Zombie (or 'Bot) I'm afraid.  The words 'security' and 'AOL' go together like 'Swiss' and 'Cheese'.  You maybe don't have much problem at the moment as you are on dialup but if you go to ADSL then you have a marked machine and it WILL be hacked.    I know I keep banging on about it but get Mozilla Firefox and your troubles disappear.

[Ecossais]

Hi Jackie,

I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the AOL interface, however, as Cathy says, I’d recommend you check that there is only one account and that it has the correct dial up number.

You don’t mention if you have firewall or anti-virus software installed – if not I’d strongly recommend you install these and keep them up to date.

[Jackie]

Yes we run AVG and it is updated each day. Spybot and Adaware are also frequently updated too. I think we must have had a dialer which has now been eliminated but we will be keeping an eye on the Francetelecom info on-line. Many thanks for the interest....................Jackie and John