Am I being hacked? I really think so.

[SONIC Life]

Turning off wifi on your own machine is not what I meant.

You need to log in to your router and switch it off there so that no-one can use or abuse your network.
I log into mine using Firefox, the address is http://192.168.2.1/ but yours may be different.

You will need to know the router's password and if you are worried then it would be best to change it.
Make the new password at least 15 characters long and make a note of it somewhere.

When logged in check your router's firewall status, make sure that it is set to maximum.
Read the instructions that came with your router or Google for it.

i think i had already done that, and made the password quite difficult using letters numbers big letters etc, but i guess ill try it again, took a break from my PC yesterday because i was really annoyed seeing the gmail security report. thanks again.

[conquerorodueko]

First things first buddie... firestarter??? - bad choice!
Secondly... your online accounts yes are possibly hacked {I have had my share of that on UBUNTU as well}
Ubuntu 12.10??? - buggie... very buggie.... 12.04.2 better for you to go on that one {12.10 is being fixed now on 13.04daily build}
Finally... by default UBUNTU firewall in the UFW is designed to give a false sense of security {YOU HAVE TO MANUALLY BUILD YOUR FIREWALL}
The default firewall allows every connection you have initiated back into your computer including everything in its path to your chosen destination
This is where you have to filter out {UFW is using a filter table} what you dont want to get into your computer {requires knowledge of the internet}

[CharlesA]

First things first buddie... firestarter??? - bad choice!

First things first, I didn't think firestarter was even in the Ubuntu repositories anymore, as it hasn't been maintained in a long while and conflicts with ufw/gufw. Uninstall it and start using ufw or guf.

Secondly... your online accounts yes are possibly hacked {I have had my share of that on UBUNTU as well}

This is possible, and it is usually a good idea to change all your passwords if you suspect one service is compromised. This applies to any service, but especially email because it is likely tied to your other accounts - Bank, Paypal, Online Stores, etc.

Ubuntu 12.10??? - buggie... very buggie.... 12.04.2 better for you to go on that one {12.10 is being fixed now on 13.04daily build}

Plenty of people are using 12.10 without any problems. All software has bugs and each user's environment is different.

Finally... by default UBUNTU firewall in the UFW is designed to give a false sense of security {YOU HAVE TO MANUALLY BUILD YOUR FIREWALL}
The default firewall allows every connection you have initiated back into your computer including everything in its path to your chosen destination
This is where you have to filter out {UFW is using a filter table} what you dont want to get into your computer {requires knowledge of the internet}

The only thing you need to do with ufw is enable it and the default configuration (incoming connections blocked, outgoing connections allowed) is suitable for most users.

Unless you are super paranoid about something on your PC making an outgoing connection, the default rules are fine.

Ubuntu still ships with "no open ports" by default, which means there is no remote access software installed by default, so the user would have had to either visited a compromised website (unlikely) or downloaded random stuff off the internet if their PC is being accessed without their knowledge.

@OP: If you want to confirm this is not the case, you would have to run this:

netstat -nlp

Check out the basic security guide I have linked in my signature for more info.

[conquerorodueko]

I do agree with CharlesA that: {All software has bugs and each user's environment is different.}
But i cannot say i entirely agree with this: {Unless you are super paranoid about something on your PC making an outgoing connection, the default rules are fine.}
But taking CharlesA's statement as the only condition, is it not - The more reason why it is difficult to ascertain the security level of the network used?
If i might ask, how would the "something" on his PC with 15 clean installations get into the PC again and again and again for 15 times????
By the way, with regards to CharlesA's comment: {All software has bugs and each user's environment is different.}
I would like to refer CharlesA back to the complaint: {because suddenly and as always my password changed itself when the 12.10 version was installed}

Mind you: If CharlesA is correct that it [BLOCKS ALL IN] AND [ALLOWS ALL OUT], then when you are chatting on the internet, you send a message to who you are chatting with but the person's message back to you would not come back for you to see because the firewall will block it from getting back to you. It would also mean that every website you visit is actually locally on your computer which would mean you are not truly on the internet.

THE BLOCK ALL IN really blocks any connection that YOU HAVE NOT INITIATED. [If you dont say "hello", the other end will be blocked from saying "hello" back to you]
But once you say "Hello", then the person replies back with "Hello", however, the default means that anyone around at the time you say "Hello" is also permitted to say "Hello" back to you. [Makes sense???]

ALL THIS POINTS OUT THAT UBUNTU IS STILL VERY BUGGY AND NEEDS SOME SECURITY WORK.

[SeijiSensei]

Nothing the OP posted suggests there was "something" on his PC of a malevolent nature. If you see something to the contrary, point it out.

I don't use firewalls on machines behind firewalls. I have no problem avoiding any sort of security compromise.

[Soul-Sing]

Mind you: If CharlesA is correct that it [BLOCKS ALL IN] AND [ALLOWS ALL OUT], then when you are chatting on the internet, you send a message to who you are chatting with but the person's message back to you would not come back for you to see because the firewall will block it from getting back to you. It would also mean that every website you visit is actually locally on your computer which would mean you are not truly on the internet.

No way, default ufw policy is yhe above policy: sudo ufw enable. This doesn't lock you out of the internet.
block all outbound traffic does. Except if you have outbound rules, which I have. For the xchat/chat example: freenode, allow port 7000/7070 for freenode via SSL cq SASL

[Ms. Daisy]

Mind you: If CharlesA is correct that it [BLOCKS ALL IN] AND [ALLOWS ALL OUT], then when you are chatting on the internet, you send a message to who you are chatting with but the person's message back to you would not come back for you to see because the firewall will block it from getting back to you. It would also mean that every website you visit is actually locally on your computer which would mean you are not truly on the internet.

THE BLOCK ALL IN really blocks any connection that YOU HAVE NOT INITIATED. [If you dont say "hello", the other end will be blocked from saying "hello" back to you]
But once you say "Hello", then the person replies back with "Hello", however, the default means that anyone around at the time you say "Hello" is also permitted to say "Hello" back to you. [Makes sense???]

ALL THIS POINTS OUT THAT UBUNTU IS STILL VERY BUGGY AND NEEDS SOME SECURITY WORK.

What? No. The default ufw rules will deny all incoming except for those specifically related to traffic you initiated.

Let's not argue facts, though...
http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/...l#contenttoc10

[OpSecShellshock]

If you're getting reports of a mail account being accessed from another browser on another system that isn't yours, then it's the account that has been compromised, not the computer. Usually this occurs due to weak passwords and/or password re-use. You can implement firewall changes all day long and it won't solve that problem.

[SeijiSensei]

Some free mail services like Yahoo's are so vulnerable you can watch tutorial videos at YouTube that show you how to hijack an account.

[CharlesA]

Some free mail services like Yahoo's are so vulnerable you can watch tutorial videos at YouTube that show you how to hijack an account.

Indeed. This is also why two factor authentication is quite handy.

I know Gmail offers it, but I am not sure about yahoo as I hardly use their email services.