Cybersecurity

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advice needed (aussie.zone)

submitted 11 months ago by Lophostemon@aussie.zone to c/cybersecurity@sh.itjust.works

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Hi, I’m not a coder etc but I’m not a complete noob with computers.

My FIL has apparently been scammed / hacked by some shithead (according to wife) who has apparently managed to get control whenever he turns his laptop on. I don’t know much more than that right now. The situation is pretty shityy because the poor old man lost EVERYTHING in recent flooding; all possessions, personal documents etc. He was given this laptop to help him get his life back together, personal admin etc.

He’s actually an OG coder and mathematician but is old enough to be vulnerable to the crap that these scum pull on the unsuspecting.

I’m wondering if there’s a way (rubberduck?) to quickly delete teamware etc as soon as the pc boots. Not sure how much admin control he has anymore.

Is there a safe mode (?) way of getting back control / kicking external admins?

Many thanks for any advice.

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[–] walter_wiggles@lemmy.nz 5 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Turn the wifi off, or take it somewhere where there's no wifi, and start it up.

[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This works, even if you disconnect your home router temporarily.

I'd strongly recommend using an external boot disk to save your important documents. Beware of any zips or executables within those directories you're backing up, they also may have been modified. You can also just pull the hard drive out and stick it into a USB hdd adapter and plug it in like it's a regular flash drive. Again, be careful or you may infect your personal system as well.

[–] Lophostemon@aussie.zone 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Cool thanks.

[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

Sure, good luck and keep us posted.

[–] Lophostemon@aussie.zone 2 points 11 months ago

This occurred to me as I typed the original query. I wonder how much control the guy has and whether we can even get into the files.