Could someone help me out? (urgent)

[DeepBlueX]

I was using a web space provider called tera-byte.com
I had two accounts with them for a year. A few days ago, they suspended my accounts and said I ran IRC bots on it. They also charge me $1000US for this crime.

I told them that I didn't run IRC bots on them but they said it could be my compuer was being hacked. I emailed them a few times saying that I am innocent and I didn't do such thing. They seem not care whether it was me who did it or not, and think I am responsible for this outcome. This is the last email that they sent me:

"let me make something clear you had bots running on your site, you caused a
network attack because of those bots, the AUP clearly states you are
responsible for what happens on your account."

What should I do? Is there anyway to prove that I am innocent?

 

[Valhalla1]

wow.. I host on tera-byte.com too.. makes me think twice

 

[gygheyzeus]

I feel for ya... been in a similar position myself. Horrible part is that there isn't much you can do about it, unless you have a way to prove that you didn't do it.

 

[MichaelD]

Sorry to intrude with no help in-hand; what are IRC bots? (Real question.)

 

[DeepBlueX]

good question. I don't know what IRC bots are too.

So is there anything I can do? This is the last email I got from them

"well i actually dont believe you as a matter of fact i belive your on irc
right now in the channel where the bot was, so the bottom line is the fine
stays "

I don't know what I did make them don't belive me. My websites are for personal homepages, I put my info and pictures there......

 

[reitz]

<< &quot;well i actually dont believe you as a matter of fact i belive your on irc
right now in the channel where the bot was, so the bottom line is the fine
stays &quot; >>

I would think the a person with the power to levy a fine against you would be just a bit more professional

 

[isekii]

send an email back.. telling them .. &quot;GO TO HELL I DONT OWE YOU SQUAT~!&quot;

 

[DeepBlueX]

but they charge on my visa



I called my visa company to dispute this amount. I did everything I can think of so far.


What else can I do?

 

[Shming]

If you wanna know what IRC bots are Read here!

Good read trust me.

BTW I think the moron who is e-mailing you about the fine is probably just a prank.
Seems too unprofessional IMO.:disgust:

 

[brxndxn]

Sue them for falsely accusing and denying services paid for $25000.

 

[pulse8]

Well, unless there's something in the contract you made with them about a fine if something like this was done, they can't MAKE you pay it. As a company they can't issue &quot;fines&quot;.

 

[DeepBlueX]

I checked their AUP. And it does it there is a fine for running illegal things such as IRC bots.



But I didn't do that...

 

[TimidOCer]

ask them for the proof look through logs see if anyone but you accesed your info I dont know man... This sucks

 

[TimidOCer]

also Id check to see if this wasnt a prank heh

 

[Jfur]

ask them for HARD evidence...
as mentioned above, ask for logs showing all logins...
MAKE SURE your CC placed this in your file. Follow it up immediately with a mature, written statement.
also, ask them for the name of their LEGAL COUNSEL ---> where your lawyers can send documents related to the oncoming class-action suit against them because after discussiong this on public fora, you learned that many others have been similarly harassed without proof

 

[DeepBlueX]

<< If you wanna know what IRC bots are Read here!

Good read trust me.

BTW I think the moron who is e-mailing you about the fine is probably just a prank.
Seems too unprofessional IMO.:disgust: >>



I skimmed through that page. And in fact when I use trojan cleaner to check my computer after this incident, I found SebSeven trojan in my computer. Could this be the cause of all these problem?

And I told tera-byte.com about this, but they don't belive me.

 

[MrCodeDude]

IRC Bots are illegal? I never knew.
-- mrcodedude

 

[Muadib]

I had two accounts with them for a year. A few days ago, they suspended my accounts and said I ran IRC bots on it. They also charge me $1000US for this crime.
Was this stated in the contract you got from them?

 

[Gusfo0]

IRC bots are UNIX background processes that connect to IRC servers and &quot;idle&quot; in a channel to protect it, and to give ops to the users. There are lots of features for an IRC bot, most commonly an eggdrop bot. You can add users, add channels, put games on, link bots, etc. I'm pretty familiar since I've been running them for awhile.

As far as getting this cleared up.. Ask them for logs, timestamps, and EVIDENCE that is indeed your username the bots are running from. Obviously if you have no clue, someone must know your password, or have back doored the system hosting these files and used your account to run bots from.

If indeed the claims they have against you are legitimate, you have to try your best to prove your innocence. By the looks of those e-mails, they aren't very professional. Spelling mistakes and words that are left uncapitalized. GRAMMAR! That is a good sign of professionalism.


If you need more info, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Gusfo0]

MrCodeDude, IRC bots are 'legal' unless otherwise specified by the system administrator. Most IRC servers are unfriendly to bots, but this doesn't make them illegal. If in their user agreement they stated &quot;The use of IRC bots is prohibited and will result in a fine of $1000&quot; then well, it's pretty much &quot;illegal&quot; to run them on that host.

 

[Gusfo0]

A little more info about 'SebSeven'

<< SubSeven 2.2 backdoor can be used to monitor a victim's keystrokes,
read and write files, sniff network traffic, etc. An earlier
variant was called DEFCON8 and circulated as SexxxyMovie.mpeg.exe.
It runs smoothly on Windows NT/2000. SubSeven 2.2 has been
hidden in porn files on a Usenet group. There are also
copies of SubSeven 2.17 being found on computers. SebSeven 2.2
sourceport is 27374. The zip file is ss22.zip and the individual files
are EditServer.exe, server.exe, sub7.exe, and sin.exe. >>

If this is the virus you had, then yes, they could have easily gained access to your username and password and ran IRC bots without your knowledge.

 

[TripleJ]

Tell them that you cannot be held responsible for the illegal conduct(hackers etc) of others without your knowledge.

 

[MrBond]

Most ISP's couldn't care less about channel protection or file serving bots. It sounds like you got hacked, and someone made your PC a zombie. Your PC is now attacking other pcs when a person in an irc channel tells it to, most likly with DoS attacks. There's nothing you can do, other then to delete the bot. This would also explain why they said you were in the channel with the bot while you were talking to them (because it runs in the background without any clue if you dont know what to look for. Might try sending them a zipped copy of it in an email and explaining what it was.