I have had a problem with my ISP. I got a letter from my ISP stating that my 300mb unlimited account has been breached by approx. 2700mb! I would have assumed before this happens that I would get a letter from my ISP saying that my download quota has been exceeded. I have been connected to the internet for 6 months and my average usage per month is between 250 and 350mb. I have not used my net service any more than usual during this month and I have now been told that my account has been logged onto at odd hours (eg. when I was at work and while I have been sleeping!). Help! I think I’ve been hacked.

The first thing to do is change your password so that the person who is doing this can no longer access your account. To resolve this matter with your ISP, firstly ring them up or arrange a meeting with them to talk about the situation with your internet account and to see if you can figure out a resolution. Ask your ISP to look at their logs to see what websites the person has been visiting and the times when the person logged on. As a last resort should your ISP not be responsive, contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombusman (TIO). Their purpose is to help people resolve problems with their phone company or ISP when the company providing your service will not listen to you. In any event, here are some ways to prevent this from happening again. (i) Change your internet password at least each month (ii) Download a good virus scanner off the internet (eg. like ‘The Cleaner’ which was mentioned in last weeks column). If you have a trojan horse (or alike) virus on your computer then it is possible for the hacker to obtain your password. (iii) If you have the one password for other things (on the computer or not), make your internet password unique from the rest.