[deutschmann59]

Hey, I was fooling around with wikipedia.com. I was amazed that anyone can edit any article to make it more helpful. Well anyway, like i said I was playing around and just now I noticed that my IP address was logged and it's now posted under the revisions for the particular article.

Can someone get a hold of this and use it against me somehow? I know that your IP address is logged on pretty much every site you go to, but this is creeping me out a little bit. Can anyone offer any insight?

[E90-4life]

Could you explain a bit more, I'm not sure I'm understanding exactly what it is you're asking? IP?

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by E90-4life

Could you explain a bit more, I'm not sure I'm understanding exactly what it is you're asking? IP?

Yeah, I don't understand that much about it. Your IP address is like your "internet ID number". So now that it's posted on wikipedia, couldn't a hacker find it and use it against me, like hack into something, or use my IP address to mask their own IP address? Or am I worrying for nothing?

[E90-4life]

I really can't tell you since I don't know much about it myself. I doubt you really have much to be worried about, if it was that much of an issue, you'd know. I think there is a lot you have to be careful about divulging over the internet, I've seen and heard some very "scary" things. Myspace especially, I can't tell you how many "freak incidents" both freinds and acquiantances of mine have had on that site, it's a mess. I dont' know how I'd handle it if I were a father and had a daughter I knew used the internet everyday, too many whacky things and too many whacko people. But I don't live in a shell.

[BMW F22]

yes they can. If I had your IP I can see everything you have on your HDD. I can even see your activies on the computer.

[E90-4life]

BMWE90,

breakdown what an "IP" adress is for me? I have an idea and dont' want to assume. I'll try looking it up on wiki...

[E90-4life]

Alright, I researched it, but I'm failing to understand how someone can identify your specific IP unless you put it out there explicitly.

[BMW F22]

Internet Protocol- it's a set of rules that computers follow. The Internet Protocol address is like your social security number. For dial-ups it changes every time you go online. But for broadband it's fixed.



Yeah you need to know the IP address.

[deutschmann59]

What should I do?

[E90-4life]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

What should I do?

Change your broadband service so that you'll be assigned a new IP.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

What should I do?

There's not much you can do. If they want to they will hack into your comp. You can use programs like Norton Internet Security or McAffee to help protect your computer. There is no way to eliminate the threat unless you have a highly advanced encryption program. The highest is 256 bit I think but only the government have that. Then again, if they wanted to, they can find a way.

[deutschmann59]

Wikipedia is pretty popular...how can they do this if it isn't safe?

[BMW F22]

I honestly dont know. I think it's like a customer database. They wanna know how many people log on to their site I guess. Anyone here following the GOogle case? I think it's similar to it.

[Squawks]

If you have a firewall, up-to-date virus scanner, and up-to-date OS (e.g. WinXP with the latest updates at all times) it is ridiculously hard for any hacker to do any harm to you, regardless of their tools.

The IP address is crucial for many viruses including Trojan Horses. TH's, in my opinion, are the most fatal viruses because not only can your potential data be lost but everything on your computer can be stolen. Trojan Horses are planted into your computer through infected files/viruses and when the "controller/seeder" of the virus knows your computer, all he/she needs is your IP address to log into your computer and have complete access. It's funny because I used to do this back in middle school - on the day our final project research papers were due, I showed up to class with the exact same copy of my friend's research paper (of course I did my own, but just for kicks) and I showed him my (copied) paper.

Back in the days, the IP address is also enough for nukers to bombard that particular address with "corrupt" packets over the internet that would actually crash the user's computer. Today's latest OS and firewalls prevent this from happening though.

Even today's trojan horses are so advanced that once they are seeded/activated on your computer, they beacon your IP address to specific TH controllers out there so that despite you never revealing your IP address, they can still obtain it and access your computer.

If you are seriously concerned, a simple phone call to your ISP requesting a change in IP address will fix the problem...assuming you do indeed have a static IP.

[E90-4life]

Originally Posted by BMWE90

There's not much you can do. If they want to they will hack into your comp. You can use programs like Norton Internet Security or McAffee to help protect your computer. There is no way to eliminate the threat unless you have a highly advanced encryption program. The highest is 256 bit I think but only the government have that. Then again, if they wanted to, they can find a way.

So he can't be assigned a new IP if he were to switch up his broadband service? Like change the acct. or something along those lines?

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by E90-4life

So he can't be assigned a new IP if he were to switch up his broadband service? Like change the acct. or something along those lines?

He could but everytime he logs onto wikipedia his IP will be logged again. Like squawks mentioned, you can use firewalls to help protect it. I have firewall, anti-spyware, hackers, and internet security on all my computers. You can set your privacy levels as well. Dont know for sure how much that will help.

[E90-4life]

Originally Posted by Squawks

If you have a firewall, up-to-date virus scanner, and up-to-date OS (e.g. WinXP with the latest updates at all times) it is ridiculously hard for any hacker to do any harm to you, regardless of their tools.

The IP address is crucial for many viruses including Trojan Horses. TH's, in my opinion, are the most fatal viruses because not only can your potential data be lost but everything on your computer can be stolen. Trojan Horses are planted into your computer through infected files/viruses and when the "controller/seeder" of the virus knows your computer, all he/she needs is your IP address to log into your computer and have complete access. It's funny because I used to do this back in middle school - on the day our final project research papers were due, I showed up to class with the exact same copy of his research paper (of course I did my own, but just for kicks) and I showed him my (copied) paper.

Back in the days, the IP address is also enough for nukers to bombard that particular address with "corrupt" packets over the internet that would actually crash the user's computer. Today's latest OS and firewalls prevent this from happening though.

Even today's trojan horses are so advanced that once they are seeded/activated on your computer, they beacon your IP address to specific TH controllers out there so that despite you never revealing your IP address, they can still obtain it and access your computer.

If you are seriously concerned, a simple phone call to your ISP requesting a change in IP address will fix the problem...assuming you do indeed have a static IP.

You must be a sadist. LoL.

I'm guessing that if someone were to have acquired a Trojan virus(still not exactly clear how easily that can be done?) that it would only be a small window of time before the symptoms begin to show. You'd know if someone hacked their way into your comp.

[E90-4life]

Originally Posted by BMWE90

He could but everytime he logs onto wikipedia his IP will be logged again. Like squawks mentioned, you can use firewalls to help protect it. I have firewall, anti-spyware, hackers, and internet security on all my computers. You can set your privacy levels as well. Dont know for sure how much that will help.

Moral of the story: Don't type your IP adress!!!

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by BMWE90

He could but everytime he logs onto wikipedia his IP will be logged again.

I'm not concerned about this...what concerns me is the article has a history button. When you click it, you can see all the revisions made, by IP address. If you signed up for an account, you could use a user name and only the user name would show up. I should have read more carefully but I didn't.

But thanks, Squawks! I feel a lot better. I'm going to call the ISP first thing tomorrow and see what they say. Thanks again!

[BMW F22]

Trojan Horses can be sent via emails. This is the reason why I dont open emails that I dont know. They can even come with pictures or documents your friends send you over AIM. There's the Trojan Worms that 's pretty fucked up. It spreads like a bitch all over your computer. It's also hard to get rid of cus it's a worm. It has many parts.

[Squawks]

Originally Posted by E90-4life

I'm guessing that if someone were to have acquired a Trojan virus(still not exactly clear how easily that can be done?) that it would only be a small window of time before the symptoms begin to show. You'd know if someone hacked their way into your comp.

Wow, then you obviously know nothing about the world of viruses.

Almost all of today's viruses are installed into your computer without you knowing. For obvious reasons.

Trojan Horses work the exact same way. People download programs, install it, carry on with their lives. Hackers can embed their viruses into such programs.

Once the TH is in, the user never knows.

Once the TH's seeder logs into the user's computer, the user STILL is unaware. The seeder can, from that point, control the user's computer or simply steal/delete crucial files.

Now, if the seeder makes the user's cdrom drive open/close, move the user's mouse pointer, or spawn random system messages on the user's screen, then that will obviously let the user know that he's been infected with some sort of virus.

But the stealthy seeder isn't stupid. He goes in, copies personal/important files, leaves. If he wants to impart serious damage, he permanently deletes important files off of the user's computer.

Note that all the while this is happening, the user is carrying about his/her typical computer tasks as normal...and the ONLY way to tell something is awry is if you are monitoring your bandwidth (e.g. through a very good firewall).

[E90-4life]

Originally Posted by BMWE90

Trojan Horses can be sent via emails. This is the reason why I dont open emails that I dont know. They can even come with pictures or documents your friends send you over AIM. There's the Trojan Worms that 's pretty fucked up. It spreads like a bitch all over your computer. It's also hard to get rid of cus it's a worm. It has many parts.

Right on. I dont' dl emails very often at all, usually scan them prior to if I am though. I'll be more mindful of the sending of pics and other doc's over IM's in the future. Thanks for the heads up.