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Computer question

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Started by msd in Chit-Chat

Can anyone tell me how IP addresses work? If I had sent something could it be traced to my individual PC, or just the internet provider, or just to a general geographical location?

I ask this purely out of interest, I’ve done nowt, guvnor ;)

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 11:53

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#1

Gav wrote:

As far as I know:

Internet providers normally have a block of IP addresses, when you connect with them they usually allocate you one during the duration that you are on line. Your ISP will have a log of who had that IP address at any given time.

do a ‘whois’ lookup on your ip address if you are curious. You can get varying info depending on who your Internet Service Provider is.

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 12:12

#2

msd wrote:

I’m on broadband, any idea if that makes a difference?

Doing a search brings up an IP address which is located in Leeds…what I need to know is, is this address uniquely attached to my connection? i.e. could someone go to my ISP with the IP address and get an actual postal address off them?

This sounds dodgy, erm, it’s not :rolleyes: ;)

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 12:20

#3

LangTall wrote:

Depends on your ISP, some ISP’s reissue IP-adresses every 24 hours, this is called dynamic adressing. Others give a fixed (static) IP-adress.

ISP’s are also logging which user get’s which dynamic adress, but are only forced to give this information away when inforced by a court of law. This is of course also depending on the laws in your country. ;)

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 13:15

#4

Gav wrote:

mr self destruct wrote:

is this address uniquely attached to my connection?

No, the address is probably your local exchange. If everyone who connected to the internet had a unique address it would be unmanagable.

I think it works like someone like wannado would have 500,000 ip addresses, they might have 700,000 customers but they know that not all their customers will connect at the same time. Your ISP knows what IP address they allocated you at any given time.

mr self destruct wrote:

i.e. could someone go to my ISP with the IP address and get an actual postal address off them?

Yes - but unless it was the police they wouldn’t have to /couldn’t to give it to them (probably under data protection). If you were harassing someone, they could report you to your isp who could investigate the incident.
If someone did a whois lookup on your ip address - the isp normally advertise an abuse@isp.com email address on the results page

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 13:33

#5

msd wrote:

OK, cheers!

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 13:50

#6

Gav wrote:

find your IP address on:
http://www.whatismyipaddress.com

then stick it in a lookup
http://www.whois-search.com/

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 16:08

#7

msd wrote:

Cheers. You could get a job doing this. “Ask Gav a question and he’ll come back with the answer, guaranteed.” :)

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 16:35

#8

Gav wrote:

mr self destruct wrote:

Cheers. You could get a job doing this. “Ask Gav a question and he’ll come back with the answer, guaranteed.” :)

Change ‘could get’ to ‘have got’… I spend my working days sorting other peoples shit out.

…and no, I’m not a sewage worker :(

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 16:45

#9

msd wrote:

Good, cos I ain’t finished with this question yet :D

Do you think that/know whether everything you do on the net is traceable to an IP address? For example, signing up to this site/buying something from an online shop/posting on a messageboard?

If this is so, then how come it seems to be relatively easy to commit web-based crimes (be that harrassment, fraud, hacking, phishing or anything else)? Surely the culprit can be fairly easily traced back to the address where they connected to the net?

I don’t expect you to know the answer or look for it, by the way, just interested to hear opinions :)

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 16:59

#10

Gav wrote:

mr self destruct wrote:

Good, cos I ain’t finished with this question yet :D

Do you think that/know whether everything you do on the net is traceable to an IP address? For example, signing up to this site/buying something from an online shop/posting on a messageboard?

Again - I’m dealing in my understanding of the subject - not hard facts…

I guess everything would be logged. Your IP address will be logged for the purpose of this site and definitely for online transactions. I ran the forum for my old band and I had access to all the ip addresses of the people that posted messages.

mr self destruct wrote:

If this is so, then how come it seems to be relatively easy to commit web-based crimes (be that harrassment, fraud, hacking, phishing or anything else)? Surely the culprit can be fairly easily traced back to the address where they connected to the net?

I guess you only have to hide behind the laws of the country that you are operating from. Look at the attitudes to copyright piracy in the far east etc… A lot of the email scams are from African origins.

People who have created viruses have been traced back and prosecuted… plus these fuckers downloading all the kiddy porn have been busted… There are ways of covering your tracks but I dont know of them.

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 17:17

#11

Gav wrote:

Plus - your ISP will probably collate information about you and your surfing habbits anyway… what sites you visited, how long you stayed, how many times you go back to any given site, did you click on any adverts? etc… There are all kinds of things that people can find out about your internet usage.

I would look into it more, but I’m afraid that if I looked into this kinda stuff, I would end up pulling the plug out of the wall and never using the net again.

Its like - who really wants to know exactly what they put in sausages…?

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 17:20

#12

msd wrote:

I found out and stopped eating meat ;)

I guess the internet is even more closely monitored these days what with worldwide terrorism…I’m just curious about why the internet is kind of thought of as an anonymous, lawless place - when that probably ain’t true at all.

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 17:26

#13

msd wrote:

I’m not creating viruses or posting kiddy porn! ;)

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 17:33

#14

Gav wrote:

mr self destruct wrote:

‘m just curious about why the internet is kind of thought of as an anonymous, lawless place - when that probably ain’t true at all.

For them… its all too easy to see what everyone gets up to. I dont want to go all ‘conspiracy theory’ or anything… but all your emails are read checked.

There used to be a test you could do - I dont know if the advancements in technology now limit the effect of this. but you could send 2 emails from your work account to your home account. The first you put ‘plot to assasinate George Bush’ or ‘idiots guide to suicide bombing’ or something in the subject line, the second you put ‘Tea at Frank and Barbaras’ and send it about 30 seconds later.

When you get home, check which arrived in your inbox first ;)

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 17:50

#15

msd wrote:

I wouldn’t dare try that test…I’m sure I’m on a list somewhere already ;)

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 17:54

#16

Gav wrote:

I heard that special branch already have a car parked outside your place anyway, you leftist sympathiser :D

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 17:57

#17

msd wrote:

Last year a police video van pulled up outside…I properly shit it, drew all the curtains and was running around hiding everything dodgy in the house. Turned out they wanted to speak to this little chav next door :D

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 18:01

#18

Gav wrote:

Something to hide, Sam?

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 18:03

#19

msd wrote:

Shit…you’re one of them, aren’t you? :D

Posted on Mon, 3 April 2006 at 18:06

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