I have Norton Internet Security 2011 installed on our new laptop and Norton Anti Virus installed on our desktop. Running Win 7 on laptop and XP on desktop.
This AM my email addresses in both computers was hacked and all emails(AOL) were deleted as was all Contact info.Received over 30 phone/email notices from people in my addy book, of same scam notice.Full scans were run yesterday on both computers -all GOOD.Today ran full after attack and lap is GOOD and desktop had 36 tracking cookies. AOL is trying to restore my emails and contacts.Why did Norton not do its job?? What should I do so it does not happen againHelpThanksBill
Are you refering to a web-based email account, rather than a PC-based email client like Outlook or Thunderbird? I can't imagine two local contact lists and messages being deleted simultaneously from two separate computers, so I assume you must be talking about an online contact list and message store, accessed by both PCs via webmail. Please correct me if I am getting that wrong.
It sounds as if your account was compromised, giving the spammer access to your contacts. While this can happen through malware on one of your computers, it is much more likely the result of a phishing attack where you may have been tricked into logging into a fraudulent site that stole your password.
You should, of course, immediately change your password and other things associated with your AOL mail account, as explained here:
Unfortunately, Norton can only protect the PC that it is installed on. It cannot lockdown information that is stored on servers at AOL or at other online webmail accounts.