Thread by @jarue369

1) In memory of Tracy Twyman (RIP) I wanted to give some computer advice. Sometimes, we can get spooked not knowing how or why someone is able to control our computer. I'd like to discuss that a bit. Did you know you can buy viruses online? esecurityplanet.com/hackers/hiring…

2) I opened a web hosting business about 20 years ago. The industry has changed a lot and I am not as big into it now. Most of it is virtual machines now but I was doing it when we were still using hardware. Straight up. My boxes were attacked every couple of hours.

3) I run linux. I can login and administer the machine remotely. This is how all web servers work (basically). Not everyone uses linux. Some are crazy enough to let Windows or Apple do the job. Most servers do run the same software called Apache. httpd.apache.org

4) Here's a peek at my logs. Some jerk is trying to run xmlrpc.php. He is hoping to find a vulnerability. If the yellow number doesn't say 200 that means something is wrong. The blue IP is the offender. Like the human body, certain viruses (like Tetanus) need a hole to get thru.

5) This is easy to manage on Linux. It's nearly impossible to manage on Windows. PCs are about the most vulnerable operating system there is. Bill Gates was a total tool when it came to this stuff. Linus Torvalds was really the innovator. He wrote the original Linux kernel.

6) So who is the jerk hacking my site? We can find out by reverse lookup of his "phone number." I can ask the internet to tell me what it knows about someone's IP address. Right off the bat, I have a good bead on who this person is and even where he is from. it's not full-proof.

7) I could then do a reverse lookup on my site and see every page they saw and when and how long. I could extract which articles they are interested in or worse. This is all without actually hacking somebody. Look at how busy this jerk is. And this is only one page.

8) If I could get this guy to download an executable from me, I could find out and do even more. I could go on the black market and buy something made special just for him. Since I know his IP, I could even show him special content no one else would ever see. Only him.

9) When researching Tracy I found a video link Twitter wouldn't let me post. Twitter kept rejecting it. If I had my old rig I could've put it into quarantine and opened it to see what it did. If it would have infested my system the attacker would have everything he needed.

10) Since I know the guy hacking me is somewhere in Houston on an AT&T connection running on a mobile phone I already have information I can use to cold read him. I can use this for black magick to intimidate him.

11) For example, say I found that IP belonged to Starbucks, I could then deduce enough to say this,
"I can see you in Starbucks right now. You're on your phone. It's raining."

All of this from an IP address. See how it works??

12) If he actually broke into my computer then it would be even worse. He could dox me, my work, personal messages, financials, etc. If you were a psychopath you could use this info to twist the victims mind. It would be easy to get scared when you are already scared.

13) This is where the black magick comes in. I think this is what happened to Tracy. I think they were in her computer weeks before she knew it. Then I think they pretended to slip in later to make it a more powerful spell. Trauma mind control starts with fear.

14) If I need to see something online safely, I use one of these - RasberryPi. It's a tiny computer for $35.00. This doesn't hide my IP but it does hide my files. If I want to be stealth I would take this computer to another network so I could browse undetected.

15) I would have to be careful though. For example, I could not use my keyboard from home. Or my mouse. Both of those devices have their own hardware IP (MAC Address). This is a permanent ID that could be traced back to my real computer. I would need everything to be disposable.

16) Tracy was pretty computer savvy. She was still intimidated by this guy. I don't blame her. He was obviously into some bad stuff and she found out about it. It looks like he is on the run now. He would have been doing everything I explained to cover his own tracks.

17) I am no expert. I spend a lot of time inside log files though tracking jerks trying to get in. I know enough to know I know very little. But my knowledge makes me confident in an attack. I wish we could've helped Tracy. But maybe this thread will help someone else.