how anonymous is the internet?

[adikgede]

"Many of us surf from Work, and therefore have a dedicated IP address"

 

 

 

 

 

Surfing from work poses some different issues altogether. Many work places have a proxy server which can and is used by your employers to monitor how the employees are spending thier time.

 

 

 

If your employer gives all of thier workstations unque IP numbers they are either very small or old fashioned. As IP numbers are scarce until IPv6 is fully implemented it is more often the case that a server at work is handing out nonroutable addresses and then routing / forwarding local traffic out on the internet with NAT.

 

 

 

It is expensive for everyone to have unique IPs and makes it easier for people from the outside to get in to your workplace network.

[solar]

The web is becoming less and less anonymous - cookies, web bugs, IE, doubleclick, MS Media Player, Real Player etc, all help to build a a profile of people surfing the internet for marketing companies and the authorities. Also your service provider (ie who you connect to the internet with eg: freeserve, tiscali, aol etc) will also keep track of all web sites you visit and may have to disclose this information to 'authorities' if requested.

 

 

 

If you want some privacy, you might want to consider surfing via what is known as a 'proxy server'. There are some sites (eg: www.safeweb.com) that offer this service for free, though better sites make a charge, but offer encryption of web site addresses and all data sent to and from the proxy (eg: www.idzap.com). These sites may reduce the functionality of the sites you visit and will certainly have an impact on the speed that data is sent to your PC.

 

 

 

Also bear in mind that your PC stores information about web sites visited, so someone with some technical knowledge could potentially find out where you have been surfing.

 

 

 

Unfortunately this is really a highly technical topic, but I

 

hope this is of help.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

 

 

""It does, but only I and my partner (i.e. Admins) have access to these."

 

 

 

AHA!, now I see what's going on, were building up to the biggest Internet Blackmail scan ever, and I thought I was just being paraoid."

 

 

 

Shit, you have found out. Yes, we are secretelyb 'Pinky and the Brain' and this is our latest plan to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!!

 

 

 

Sanuk!

 

 

[adikgede]

Proxy servers may help you get to a site that is banned by an ISP or work place proxy. However if it is privacy you are after you will need one that encrypts the URL, as was mentioned above. An entry at yor ISP or work place proxy like the fictitious one below would not endear yourself to the authorities should they have an interest in you:

 

 

 

http://my.proxy.com/get.cgi?view=http://my.favouritesnufffilm.com/jimmyhoffa.html

 

 

 

Getting back to the original query. The admins on the board can see your IP. If they were the malicious type they might run a port scan against your IP and see if any interesting ports are open. If you have a dynamically assigned IP they would have to do while you are still online. Assuming there was somthing of interest they might set about cracking your machine, but it takes time, so you really would have to demonstrate that you are worth the trouble first other wise the cracker will move on, and they would have to get in and do their work before you hung up as with a dial up connection or many DSL accounts that use PPOE.

 

 

 

With regards to Hotmail. it has been exploited before and will be again. You shouldn't worry though because you didn't leave any e-mail with important information in your inbox, and you did not provide any usefull information, when you registered, did you?

[Guest]

Surfing from work is dangerous in my eyes. I have seen so many people dragged in front of the boss it's unbelievable. I don't personally know about these things but work traced everybodys internet time for last 6 months. Then produced a sheet with all websites logged. Then a bit more tracking on their behalf to see who was on shift and hey presto some guy was outta job for looking at porn. Daft thing to do at work but when you have 2-3 weeks of 12 hr days ahead of you, it gets kinda boring. I got asked about this board but told them it was a public discussion forum and they let it go. One guy just said ' Thailand eh? must be the culture'.

[adikgede]

Is it time to bring up Carnivore and Magic Lantern, or is everyone already scared straight?

[stumpy]

Hush Mail kills Carnivore...viral keylogging, now that is scary...

[Guest]

"admins on the board can see your IP. If they were the malicious type they might run a port scan against your IP and see if any interesting ports are open. If you have a dynamically assigned IP they would have to do while you are still online. Assuming there was somthing of interest they might set about cracking your machine"

 

 

 

do you mean that if you are online they can gain access to the files on your computer hard disk?? How is that possible?

 

 

 

How long would it take a novice to gain enough knowledge to do such a thing??

 

 

 

scary

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

 

 

"How long would it take a novice to gain enough knowledge to do such a thing??"

 

Let me put it this way, I have been using computers for 18 years, and the Internet for 5, and I don't know how to do this.

 

Could probably find out though.

 

 

 

Anyway, install a firewall (do a search for Zonelabs, it's free) and you should be a lot safer.

 

 

 

Sanuk!

 

 

[adikgede]

"do you mean that if you are online they can gain access to the files on your computer hard disk?"

 

 

 

That depends, you be shure to tell us if there is a security breech on your computer.

 

 

 

"How long would it take a novice to gain enough knowledge to do such a thing?"

 

 

 

That depends on the novice.

 

 

 

Mounting a remote attack is a bit of a task, as I said earlier it would be easier to go through your garbage, or just call you on the phone. Nobody should be concerned about what Khun Sanuk could do with your IP# that is logged here after all he is not an anonymous person that people imagined they met at Woodstock.

 

 

 

[Removed reference to my name - KS]