Not true.. Admin and mods can see your IP address always and it is their job to monitor what's going on in forum. That way they can either warn or ban trublemaker. Displaying either full or partial IP address is in a way violation of privacy policy. They might as well be giving sinffing bots and unauthorized parties access to a person's email address and other details. The phishers on other hand, may use the information to create fake accounts in a victim's name...babya said:
Seems to me we have a serious security hole here..
I have to agree. The first three octets are enough to place most users in a fairly small geographical area (ie. a metro area). For information gathering intended for e.g. identity theft, this combined with information obtained elsewhere could be enough to identify an individual. Nevermind the privacy implications...
I'm not sure how it serves a purpose to anonymous users, and unless a compelling argument can be presented, I think this 'feature' should be disabled.
Try here: http://www.maxmind.com/app/lookup_city just add a .1 as the final octet.
I'm not sure how it serves a purpose to anonymous users, and unless a compelling argument can be presented, I think this 'feature' should be disabled.
Try here: http://www.maxmind.com/app/lookup_city just add a .1 as the final octet.
phishing/spam
It's already happening. Whenever I've not posted for a few weeks, the level of spam etc . I receive drops dramatically. Whenever I've posted after an absence and I receive the auto post email, my spam rate goes up drastically. Forbes financial site is even worse than here at DIY audio.
I'll probably get a bunch from this posting...
John L.
Notorious said:
It's already happening. Whenever I've not posted for a few weeks, the level of spam etc . I receive drops dramatically. Whenever I've posted after an absence and I receive the auto post email, my spam rate goes up drastically. Forbes financial site is even worse than here at DIY audio.
I'll probably get a bunch from this posting...
John L.
theAnonymous1 said:
So you think you're "safe" using proxy?????
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
If so, you got lot to learn bout internet and internet security ma man..
I didn't say I was safe; however you define that. I did say I'm not paranoid however; and could care less who has my IP address.
The OP was worried about the IP shown on each post, I was simply demonstrating how easy it is to hide your real IP from showing.
BTW, I don't use proxies so I don't really care how effective they are.
The OP was worried about the IP shown on each post, I was simply demonstrating how easy it is to hide your real IP from showing.
BTW, I don't use proxies so I don't really care how effective they are.
As it happens, I'm sitting in a room with a computer security expert who admins several forums. She didn't seem too concerned. Her points:
1. Most IP addresses are dynamic, i.e., you'll be assigned a different last number at random each time you log in to your ISP. So that address is not specific to you.
2. An IP address will not have anything to do with spam or email.
3. When hackers attack computers, they do it en masse, they'll cycle through IP numbers serially. They do not cut and paste from forum posts, that's WAY too inefficient.
4. Anyone with a firewall (and that's anyone running Windows or using a wireless router, probably the same for Mac OS, too) will effectively block any but the most determined attackers. And those will not be worrying about getting a dynamic IP address off of forum posts.
The real things to worry about have more to do with social engineering, i.e., going to bad websites, opening emails or attachments you shouldn't, etc, etc, etc.
1. Most IP addresses are dynamic, i.e., you'll be assigned a different last number at random each time you log in to your ISP. So that address is not specific to you.
2. An IP address will not have anything to do with spam or email.
3. When hackers attack computers, they do it en masse, they'll cycle through IP numbers serially. They do not cut and paste from forum posts, that's WAY too inefficient.
4. Anyone with a firewall (and that's anyone running Windows or using a wireless router, probably the same for Mac OS, too) will effectively block any but the most determined attackers. And those will not be worrying about getting a dynamic IP address off of forum posts.
The real things to worry about have more to do with social engineering, i.e., going to bad websites, opening emails or attachments you shouldn't, etc, etc, etc.
You are never "hidden" on da net..
Imagine you're driving in the car and cops are following and watching you.. Even if you done nothing wrong you'd get nervous.. That is exactly point of worrying about your IP addresses being on display. I'm not worried about nothing and have nothing to hide. Still my putter is like Fort Knox. Still I'm not so sure I'm "ïnvisible" When somebody really wants you, they'll get you.Oh and btw... Watch out what proxy you pick and where.. I don't know what program you're using but there are only few good proxy clients around..
email
I dunno whether ip addresses can be hacked to reveal more info, nor do I much care ... BUT... I do know my email starts stacking in the spam folder after I get a DIY post email after visiting the forum...as I said b4. Maybe hacking the user profile db...
Maybe a co-incidence, maybe not.
John L.
I dunno whether ip addresses can be hacked to reveal more info, nor do I much care ... BUT... I do know my email starts stacking in the spam folder after I get a DIY post email after visiting the forum...as I said b4. Maybe hacking the user profile db...
Maybe a co-incidence, maybe not.
John L.
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