Is this really Steve or did someone hijack his MyChurch account?

Sorry Steve, that was lame. I can't help....really wish I could. I will see if I can find any info for you though. 

Greetings Friends:

This is an unfortunate reality in today's interconnected society. 

If an individual is serious about security then I suggest the following:

(This is part of the same set as we provide all our individual and corporate clients)

Do not use any of the following: 

-Comet Cursor (Animated cursors)
-Hot Bar/Yahoo search bar/Google search bar
-No Google Applications (Desktop Search, Gmail, Google Earth, etc.)
-Microsoft Live Desktop Search and/or MS Live Search features.
-Peer to Peer file sharing apps (Napster, limewire, etc.)
-Weatherbug
-Webshots desktop background changers
-Hosted email services such as Hotmail, gmail, etc.
-Hosted services for your critical personal/corporate data such as CRM/ERP
-MS desktop indexing turned off.

And the list goes on and on.

Here are some other setup to do's:

-Administrator account with secure password (7 plus characters alpha/numeric)
-Main User account with username and secure (7 plus characters alpha/numeric)
-Windows Automatic updates turned off
-AVG Pro anti-virus installed (not Norton, Mcafee, etc.) Not full app. Just AV and AS
-Advanced settings tuned for performance
-Disable unnecessary system services (Messenger, java updates, adobe updates, etc.)
-Microsoft indexing turned off
-Install Firefox as the preferred web browser (turning off auto updates)

Basically: Do not host anything externally that you want to keep safe and secure and private. 

If it is out there... it can and most likely will be taken.

And also to shut down everything that auto updates.

We've managed thousands of pc's within many businesses and individual users. These are the fundamentals of security.

If you would like more boring yet critical detail, just let me know. 

JamesAD62
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Live Jesus. Be Church.

Hey Steve,

I work doing media/web development (as well as the IT support, computer maintenance tech at a hardware store) and here's some advice I highly recommend to keep your other accounts safe:

1: If you haven't already, change your other passwords as soon as possible. Especially if there is any possibility of you having any passwords e-mailed that address (some websites confirm your identity through a link that could have security flaw).

2: A) You really, really need to run antivirus/antispyware as JamesAD62 said.

    B) Use the Windows Safety Scanner: http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm to ensure that your computer is clean. Pay attention to the end of the scan to see what it detects. Just click the button that says scan now.I had a particularly nasty type of attack that actually stopped the scanner from removing it, and caused it to close down. If that happens, you need to call Microsofts Virus and Security center.

Sorry to hear about this Steve. Just keep tyring to get ahold of Hotmail...if you need any more help let me know...