I was aided by a Norton technical assistant to solve an issue with Norton Internet Security, and everything was done via a remote session:
Is this safe? I mean, it worked and all, but now I’m a bit nervous that some of my info might have been compromised. For example, I have a text file with several passwords, which we obviously didn’t open during the remote session… could that person might have done stuff without it appearing on my screen? Also, at some point I had to re-start my PC if that’s any relevant. Should I worry?
Thanks in advance!
Information Security 101: Don’t store your passwords in plain text!!
Not really. Tech support dont really want your information unless they are some kind of spy/hacker. You might want to change your compromised passwords anyway and save them inside a secure zip file (How to encrypt ZIP files securely using 7Zip)
Number one: Do not use Norton unless you are required to. It is so bloated and unnecessary.
Malwarebytes and ccleaner is a solid install…and maybe MSessentals or AVG type antivirus. Far less bloated and updated much more often. For remote, use teamveiwer with a data access log giving only limited access.
And it really depends, If I could remote into your system, I can grab anything I wanted without you knowing I took it.
So he/she could have raw cmd copied the data/files, nothing would show up on your screen. I could trick you into turning off your monitor for a second…etc.
You could look at your data transfer history if you had a log file but the fact that you are using norton tells me you dont use any.
You should be fine. If anything, rename your text files and do not add a file extension, (so “temppw”) just drag it to a open document to read. Change your passwords if it really bothers you.
Instead of a zip file, you can use Notepad++ and NPPcrypt plugin to encrypt/decrypt the text in the file. Opening a file from inside of a zip file can leave a temporary copy of the file on the drive which may or may not get deleted.