these peple freak me out

[velious]

I was on yahoo and i was chatting with someone and to make a long story short, that person was typing ip's in that chat box and one of them happened to be mine...they must have got it when i was sending them a file. So my question is this:

1) how did they do it?
2) how can i prevent it?
3) how can i read incomming packets to my computer on a win xp system? or do i have to dl some trajan to fight back cuz i will if thats what it takes for people to stay out of my box.

[MysteryMan]

Who cares....

This idea that having someones IP address has any meaning and is unsafe seems to have been started in the mid 90's in the AOL chatrooms by idiots who also through you couldn't slip the fly on a floppy disk or else it would break.

Big deal. An IP is nothing, who cares.


If you want people to "stay out of your box" then here is the best way to do it.

Unplug it from any outside connection.

I suggest you download ZONEALARM and realize that about ever 6 seconds you will get a message that your computer is being communicated with. Yes, literally every 6 seconds.

[Celtboy]

er....riiiiggghhhhtttt.

velious,
Like MM said, simply having an IP address is nothing special. There are several ways that person obtained your IP, and it is impossible to guess which.
some ideas:

• Like you mentioned, from a direct-connection via file-sending
• Access to the chatroom server / server logs
• I have no idea...lol

Preventing it? Uhm. Firstly, it depends on how they got your ip in the first place. Your simplest solution would be to use a free, anonymous proxy.

Reading incoming packets? Depends on how you're connected to the internet. I'd check out Sysinternals.com for some port monitoring freeware. Your other option would be to install a packet sniffer.

If you're using Windows, Commview is probably one of your best bets ,though it costs $$$

You could also, as MM said, install a good firewall.

Also, no one, as of yet (to my knowledge anyway), has gained access to your box. Heck, just browse this thread...see the "IP Logged" link? Designated moderators and admins can view what IP address your computer was using when you made the corresponding post.

Reasons someone having your ip could be bad:
-They could do a portscan of your machine, finding services that you didn't want them to know about
- they could attempt to DoS your machine
- using a portscan, they could find possible vulnerabilities in your machine.

I hope that clears up some of the confusion and questions you may have had.

HTH,
-Celt

[MysteryMan]

Velious - I hope my analogy below does not make you feel dumb. But the nature of the question shows understanding level.

Giving someone your home mailbox address tells them where your home is. It does not give them a key to your front door.

You do not worry about people who have your home address breaking into your home do you? Likewise you shouldn't worry about people who have your IP address getting into your computer.

Also, you should know that as your home address is on any piece of mail you send or recieve, likewise anyone who you send information online, or who sends info to you, has your IP address.

It means nothing. Giving someone your IP is showing them your nipple, not showing them your ****....

heh - quotes on the fly

[Celtboy]

MM, good analogies.

[oracleguy]

Yeah nothing to worry about.

Btw downloading a trojan *isn't* something you usually want to do. The whole concept of them is that they are bad. Are you familiar with the trojan horse and the city of troy? That's why certain malicious programs are classified as trojans.

Anyways, everytime you connect to the internet via dial up or reset your broadband modem, your IP address changes unless you pay for a static IP address.

[cg9com]

LOL well said MM

[super kobs]

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