[olug] Fwd: [10.17.2016 34620193] Compromised Computer Notification from Cox Communications

[William Haisch]

My parents once had their DSL modem get infected. It was running
NetBSD v1.6. The ISP sent out a clean modem. I think the infected one
is still around somewhere...

And now for an unrelated true story:
I was at my parent's house over Christmas break and I saw their DSL
modem was running a ancient firmware and decided to upgrade it. The
upgrade worked perfectly but the configuration was wiped and it
wouldn't connect to the ISP. Crap. Had to call the ISP help desk. The
help desk guy roared at me.
"Why'd you do that?!?!?"
"Because it was two major versions behind and I care about my parent's
digital safety and security."
He grumbled told me he would look up the settings and get back to me.
Longest hour of my young life. He called me back and told me the magic
numbers to get it back on the ISP network. I was so happy.

We learned a lot that day.
Lesson 1: No more firmware updates two hours before leaving for home.
Lesson 2: Always record the working settings before upgrading.
Lesson 3: If you're working help desk on a holiday, be prepared for
annoying calls that interrupt your Husker sportsball game. They don't
hand out time-and-a-half for nothing.

-Wm.