Need Help with a hacker

[JWilliams85]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I've been staying at this hotel for about a year and there's someone that I believe lives here and he has made my windows PC (acer nitro 5 an515-58) crash to the point of having to install kali linux on it because no matter how many times I installed windows he messed it all up, he's bricked my red magic 9 pro plus and red magic 8s pro and when I try to flash new firmware onto them he reboots them in the middle of the flashing process and the most irritating thing he does is somehow slow my cellular data to a crawl or in some cases completely turns it off!! He's prevented me from calling 911 on 3 phones and deletes apps off of my phone, changes search results and intercepts and ends calls, texts and emails. I'm not sure what to ask you all to do but I figured I'd give it a try. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated as I am new to linux. Thank you in advance

 

[AlphaObeisance]

What confirmation do you have that this individual is doing this? If you have evidence, it's highly illegal and can be reported.

 

[Vektor]

Doesn't sound like Linux is the problem here.

 

[Brickwizard]

Are you sure you have been hacked and not just picked up a nasty virus on your windows,
you state you are new to Linux yet are trying to install Kali, which is for experienced Linux users and those competent at using the Terminal, so you will be flogging a dead horse there.
As it is a gaming laptop, do we assume you are still a gamer?
Have you run a full windows clean-up?

 

[Terminal Velocity]

One possibility you may consider is having some mental condition flare up, I do not mean to offend you at all, but seeing threats all around you or regarding random events as someone's fault is a well known symptom of a mental condition. Check it out and not troubling yourself for no reason

 

[KGIII]

Doesn't sound like Linux is the problem here.

To be fair, it is in 'off-topic'.

 

[Trenix25]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I've been staying at this hotel for about a year and there's someone that I believe lives here and he has made my windows PC (acer nitro 5 an515-58) crash to the point of having to install kali linux on it because no matter how many times I installed windows he messed it all up, he's bricked my red magic 9 pro plus and red magic 8s pro and when I try to flash new firmware onto them he reboots them in the middle of the flashing process and the most irritating thing he does is somehow slow my cellular data to a crawl or in some cases completely turns it off!! He's prevented me from calling 911 on 3 phones and deletes apps off of my phone, changes search results and intercepts and ends calls, texts and emails. I'm not sure what to ask you all to do but I figured I'd give it a try. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated as I am new to linux. Thank you in advance

I really don't think a call to 911 would be justified since you don't have a life threatening emergency. I would check the phone book for the non-emergency number and try calling that instead. Most hotels have a hard wired home phone type of phone available so you might try using that. It's unlikely that your local police will be qualified to handle such a situation.

You might be having trouble with the hardware itself. A hacker cannot attack your computer if it does not have a live network connection. Try downloading the firmware update and then disconnect from any kind of network before trying to reflash the system. It is possible that the cell towers in your area are simply really busy. Open the Settings app on your cell phone and check app permissions to see which apps have network access. Make sure your bluetooth is turned off. How old are these phones? The MicroSD card can wear out after a while. It also sounds like you might be suffering from a man in the middle attack. You might take your computer and phones to a computer repair shop to see if they can find anything. I can understand how frustrating it can be to have dropped calls. I use Talkatone on my phone for wifi calling and it drops calls after about ten to fifteen minutes. You could be having network connectivity problems. If you lose your connection to the server, whichever one your app is using, then it can cause problems like this for such apps. How much wifi signal strength do you have? Does this problem persist when you try to use your mobile data away from your hotel? Have you tried using other wifi servers?

A computer repair shop may be able to extract the EPROM from your computer and reflash it for you using some of their equipment. This might bring new life to those bricked computers.

Signed,

Matthew Campbell

 

[gvisoc]

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I've been staying at this hotel for about a year
...
He's prevented me from calling 911 on 3 phones and deletes apps off of my phone
...

Just go to the lobby and tell the manager to call 911 for you. Or go to the police with your devices.

Isn't that WAY EASIER than installing Kali (Kali of them all), and asking around in a forum????

 

[KGIII]

Hmm...

We are not equipped to give out legal advice. We do not wish to accept that liability.

 

[Vektor]

Hey KGIII
"Doesn't sound like Linux is the problem here."
I meant that comment as a problem solving aspect, not a forum related aspect.

Trenix25 said exactly what I was thinking.

Thanks for catching it.
Vektor

 

[KGIII]

Hey KGIII
"Doesn't sound like Linux is the problem here."
I meant that comment as a problem solving aspect, not a forum related aspect.

Trenix25 said exactly what I was thinking.

Thanks for catching it.
Vektor

These types of questions make me think of a few things, specifically how to deal with them as a moderator and as a community. From an administrative view, I think we're better off not giving out legal advice - of any kind.

A part of me thinks these questions are best answered with boilerplate and summarily locking the thread.

I have additional thoughts on the matter. We've seen these questions in the past, albeit not all that often, and the OP is often of a similar nature. (Let me be polite and leave it at that.)

They're usually beyond the ability for us to help them, meaning anything we do is likely wasting time and bordering on futile (for a variety of reasons).

We have no formal way of dealing with this and, as of this point in time, there's nothing specific in the rules that would prohibit this type of question. History says we're not really going to be able to help them and I'd stress that bit about not giving out legal advice.

 

[ML_113]

Use Easy or a form of Puppy.
Let’s make that the only PC that faces the Internet and see who is the one who get frustrated.
Re-install is SUPER easy.

 

[Brickwizard]

Use Easy or a form of Puppy.

his machine is only 3/4 years old gaming machine, by my reading, I dont think he wants to move away from Windows and thought he could use Kali in some way to clean up his current OS or as another line of defence.

 

[Vektor]

Just like in Aliens, "nuke this thread from orbit: it's the only way to be sure"

Apologies, Vektor

 

[Fanboi]

Okay, as @KGIII points out there is little we can do without physical access to your devices (and the alleged person responsible -- coz I'd just [redacted] the [redacted] out of him (or her) and call it a day)... I do have certain doubts about this "hacking" scenario you've painted, as I'm sure other residents would've noticed this, too, and alerted management, and the hotel's IT team would be on it... but I'll run with it:

The issue sounds like it could be a compromised network given all your devices are being hit and the slow network speeds.

IDK about smartphones other than they're far from "smart". If you want security, use a "block phone" and call using voice minutes.

I was going to post a security guide, but TBH there's plenty tutorials. Take your smartphones to a professional. Considering you have 2 plus a PC, and are staying in a ("an" -- I know, it just sounds weird) hotel, I'm sure your budget allows it. If not, sell a smartphone. Wipe your PC's drive completely -- new GPT table, the works, upon reinstalling the OS. Do not install Kali, it is not a secure OS. Most mainstream distros are fairly secure by default. Stay away from public networks in the future and practice due dilligence. I've been using PCs for around three decades and I've never had a single case malware or unauthorised access. For only 4 years, I had an anti-malware & firewall suite, COMODO, installed on a Win7 laptop because someone gave it to me free and I don't turn down free stuff and was interested in what MS was really up to... I digress. Point is this: Educate yourself. Stay updated with the latest security advisories. Don't do anything stupid, like using a public networks, installing software at random, etc. Victory loves preparation.

 

[KGIII]

and are staying in a ("an" -- I know, it just sounds weird) hotel

Off-Topic:

No, it's 'a hotel'. It's about how it's pronounced not the actual letter.

For example, it's 'a unicycle''. If the first syllable is pronounced like a vowel then the rule takes place. It's also 'an umbrella'. Note the difference in how the first part of the word is started. That's what defines the rule. Your use of 'a hotel' is fine and appropriate.

Welcome to English, where it doesn't have to make sense!

If you pronounce 'hotel' without the 'h' sound, then you'd use 'an'. I'm assuming you pronounce the word properly.

On-Topic:

This thread has run its course. There is nothing further we can do for the OP other than what we've already done.

As such, this thread has been locked.