Hacked awhile back

[TheGuitarist]

About a month and a half ago my computer was hacked. I believe I had a keylogger because I had my Sprint account hacked into. I reinstalled vista and deleted the old backup file.
Someone said that I shouldn't do anymore online transactions from this IP address.

Soon I'll be building a new rig so everything will be clean but my IP. Since this guy knows my IP, is there anything I can do short of switching ISP's?

For the record, the dumbass left his mailing address on my sprint account when I tried to order a phone, so Ice, FBI, Police and everyone I could contact now have his info.

 

[Guest]

Who is your ISP?

Grumpy

 

[bhowell]

You can run "IPCONFIG /all" from a dos box and see how long of a lease you have on your IP address. Make sure your modem is OFF during that time and and a little after and you should get a new IP address. That will help some. Of course this will only work if your computer is hooked directly up to your modem. If you are attached to a router, then the next best bet is to call your ISP and see if they can issue you a new IP or temporarily reserve your current IP so it will take it out of the address pool

 

[pat mcgroin]

With my modem I just unplug it and pull the battery for 2 minutes.
Start back up and I have a new address.

 

[TheGuitarist]

I have Cox. Pardon my ignorance as I'm relatively new to the forum, but since it's UK based I don't know how many people here are from the US. Anyway, it's a USA company.

Lots of advice, but do they all work? Not trying to be a dick, I'm honestly just curious.

 

[bhowell]

I am from the US.

All I can say about my suggestion is that it should work. If you fear this person will be watching for your IP, then your ISP is capable of reserving that IP for a short time, or they may even be able to force you to get a new one. We use a similar tactic where I work when we have problems with an IP...we temporarily take it out of the pool.

 

[TheGuitarist]

When you say things like, "They may even be able to force you to get a new one..", it sounds as something hostile, but I'm guessing it's actually a good thing.

 

[bhowell]

lol, I suppose it does sound hostile, but that wasn't the intention. I just meant they can send a command to your modem, or some other process, that will tell the modem to grab another IP address.

 

[Guest]

Do you have a router or is your PC connected directly to the cable modem? The only way to force an IP address change is by changing the MAC address of the device connected to the cable modem and power cycling the modem.

Grumpy

 

[bhowell]

I disagree Grumpy. An ISP can also force an IP change by reserving it (effectively taking it out of the available pool), and having the customer power cycle their modem. We do it here on our network on the few occasions similar situations arise.

 

[Guest]

OK, I should have said the only way a user can force an IP address change without involving their ISP. I have Charter and I doubt they would even know how to reserve an IP address. I had a tech tell me she "really didn't know much about computers"!

Grumpy

 

[bhowell]

Ouch. That is pretty pathetic Grumpy. I would have expected more from an ISP. I have Comcast myself. Fortunately I have not had to call them much. The few times I have called, the person at the other end seemed competent.