No Support for Hacking

[lowstatusmale]

I've been with Telus for a year now. For the first nine months, I did not have a stable internet connection. I had an incident at this point where I discovered the whole time I have been with Telus someone was trying to hack into my network and this was likely the reason my network was so unstable. There were unauthorized IP Addresses on WiFi network and through my social media data, and several devices were infected. The hackers had got into everything and started repeatedly calling. 

I contacted Telus privacy department on 3 occasions and was told on two of them that the issues I had with the hacker were outside of the scope of their business. I am looking for support from the community. Maybe other individuals who have dealt with an invasion of their privacy and harassment. 

When my contract ends I will have to leave Telus unless an arrest is made. My neighbor says she's been dealing with the hackers for 8 years (also a Telus customer). I will try another ISP to see if this help. If not, I will go internet free at home.

Some advice:

If you are having connection issues, start monitoring your network with the program Fing and/or use the Telus Connect app to keep an eye out for uauthorized devices on your WiFi. 

If you see a network change when you are online or there are errors on your network, sign out of your accounts and turn your devices off. 

If you think your network is being monitored, do not leave your devices unattended and on, and logged into social media, ecommerce, or financial accounts. 

Turn off your devices when you are not using them. Letting them sleep is not enough. You need to power off. 

Talk to your neighbors to see if they have encountered similar trials.

If anyone has other suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Please contact me if you have had similar experiences. 

I am in Calgary. I believe the hacker is from Vancouver/Burnaby. I've also seen IP addresses from Georgia, US (State) and Edmonton on my network and social media.

[HSL · Accepted solution]

End Point Security is your responsibility not Telus'. Telus provides Internet access which a) allows you to access "the internet" and b) allows "the internet" to access your devices if they are not well protected.

The Telus hub in your residence has a firewall - turn it on and set it to "high".

If you are a Windows user, your PC has a firewall and antivirus software builtin - make sure both are turned on and updated regularly.

Ensure that the operating system software and any application software on *all* of your devices is current release and is updated regularly. Devices  that are no longer receiving software updates or are no longer being supported by the manufacturer should be discarded or replaced.

The likelihood that you are being "hacked" is not very high. Most "hacking" is done by state actors targeting other states or industrial infrastructure. That being said, you may well have malware on one or more of your systems, but this type of software is not typically installed through brute force attacks. Rather it is installed through subterfuge .. by persuading you to download and/or install the malware yourself.  If that is the case then consider wiping your devices and doing a clean re-installation (back up your personal data if you can).

[lowstatusmale]

Some good points. I don't know hacking statistics, but I know people who have been hacked and didn't know what was going on until it was too late. 

If you are having connection issues, investigate and don't rule out the possibility that you might be being hacked. 

I live in a +55 building and am not the only person here who has had issues. One of my neighbors had money stolen. It's possible our building has been targeted. 

Telus does not by default set up your network in the most secure manner. If you are having connection issues research how to set up your home wifi securely and ask Telus or someone knowledgeable to set up your network as securely as possible. If someone is trying to hack your network it will result in poor internet connection. When dealing with Telus support, they will probably never mention this possibility. 

[polecat]

@lowstatusmale  Telus does have a security program    (   NORTON   ) Lowest price $6 month plus other tiers of norton. Using it for maney years --- no problems

[lowstatusmale]

I use Norton too and VPN and was still hacked. Great that you haven't had any problems. I just think there are people who are getting hacked and support forums and Telus support will tell them otherwise. It should be mentioned and Telus support should be more aware of it when their customers call in.