talkmagic.co.uk

katrielalex wrote:Hmm...one of the features of the Internet is that it's very anonymous. If I wanted I could hide my IP address and then there'd be no way of identifying me at all. (I think.) I mean, they can leave a cookie but I block a lot of cookies and I clean them out regularly...

Kati—if only it were true!

Think of the internet like Chinese whispers...

Your computer, as firewalled-up and locked-down as it may be, connects to the internet via ISP, e.g. Tiscali. Now, when connecting, your computer negotiates with your ISP via sending your username and password to create a gateway. The gateway is your connection to the internet. Your channel is via an IP address, which is basically your own internet ID. Every http server, mail server and user is identified by an IP address.

When you connect to a URL, a DNS server performs a lookup to find out the IP address of the server which you've requested a connection to. The URL resolves to a single IP address, which then allows you access to its http server, which then delivers your computer the information you've requested via your forementioned little gateway.

So, back to Chinese whispers...

This connection between you and the requested server (which is basically just another remote computer) isn't direct. Along the way, you will pass through: (roughly translated and in no particular order)

Your ISP > Regional ISP > National ISP > Regional ISP > Local ISP > Destination

Although greatly simplified, this is what happens every time you key in a URL.

For a look at how many hops it typically takes to get from A to B, click the link below:
http://www.opus1.com/htbin/traceroute?d ... rr=default

That link traces how many 'hops' it takes for the Opus1 server (the site that the utility is hosten on) to get to the TalkMagic website.

By masking your IP address, you are simply hiding one link in the chain, and consequently you are just a Chinese whisper by the time you get to the end destination.

In this instance (the Opus1 site), the demonstration is showing the route from Opus1 to TalkMagic. By using web masking, all you are doing is asking a provider to make the link for you.

Example: you use a webmasking proxy server called maskit.com.
All your requests for other sites go THROUGH maskit.com. They can tell EXACTLY who you are, and what you are looking at.

However...

Instead of an external site seeing YOUR IP address, they see maskit.com's IP address.

Your IP is STILL recognised. You can STILL be traced back. You are STILL open to the eyes of Big Brother.

seige, I agree with your assessment, but the biggest weakness remains the humans who use it.

I bow to your great knowledge seige!

That's made me more than half paranoid now!

kati

pdjamez wrote:seige, I agree with your assessment, but the biggest weakness remains the humans who use it.

How very true.

Part of my work entails creating websites for technophobes and the computer illiterate. Many times, getting someone a domain, and a website, involves going along to their workplace and setting their domain's email address up and showing them how to access their 'backend' admin part of their website.

Sooooooo many times I've come across workplaces where every possible firewall, virus scanner, worm finder, trojan horse killer etc. is running on their machine.

This makes their machine painfully slow, applications crash constantly, and what's worse, because of all the stuff installed to STOP viri getting into their system, there's so many conflicts going on every time an email comes in that even a modern computer runs like an old 386 in speed terms.

I work closely with several IT/development specialists, and you'd not BELIEVE how minimal their security setup is...

** NO Norton c*** (not the best) (Antivirus etc.). It's all a waste of money, and a system resource hog.

** JUST ONE Firewall—the Windows proprietary one (in XP)

** A SIMPLE yet effective antivirus application, such as AVG..

and

** S.C.S. — Simple Common Sense

The fact of the matter is, a virus usually comes in the form of a Trojan Horse—in other words, something which purports to be innocent, but is in fact a user-accepted malicious program.

The old Trojan Horse theory is sound: If something LOOKS too good to be true, or something arrives which you didn't request: DELETE THE EMAIL.

Receiving a file called "here's the pictures you asked for.exe" from someone you've never heard of is a no-no.

Going on a website which suddenly flashes a window saying "Your computer is NOT protected, click here to install our free assessment" is what is known as a Trojan Horse... i.e. something which you may THINK is doing you a favour, but in fact, is a virus or malicious attack on your system which YOU initiate.

My advice is, and always has been, keep your security simple. Don't download anything which claims you've already got a problem. Use a single, trusted all-in-one scanner (Such as the aforementioned AVG Free from Grisoft.com) and keep your firewall switched on.

Your computer will run quicker, and cleaner.

Bearing in mind, a computer is simply a man-made machine, running man-made software.

ALL software can be reverse engineered—and if someone is going to do you harm, they inevitably will.

Being vigilant is possibly the best form of protection you have. All these expensive internet security items are really quite uneccesary if you simply keep on top of what comes IN to your machine, and make sure you never give details OUT.

Possibly the biggest exploit of the dial-up era were installable diallers—little applications which would take over your modem settings and instead of dialling your ISP for access, they would dial premium rate numbers instead. These came in many shapes and sizes, usually in the form of free offers, or 'to access our site and all it has to offer, download this...' etc.

Nothing more than yet another Trojan Horse.

The other advice is to ditch your USB modem and get yourself a modem/router. These devices are cheap (you can get them for around £35) and they include a firewall built-in, which can keep your computer doubly-protected.

As said by pdjamez, and quite rightly so, most problems lie in the hands of the operator. And unfortunately, whilst people insist on installing these applications and running trojan horses, bandits like Norton and the likes will always be guaranteed a heavy revenue stream.

Paying huge amounts of money for protection is comparable to hiring a bouncer to guard your house from cold callers... the simple fact of the matter is, if someone knocks your front door who looks suspicious or dodgy, would you let them in?

Apply the same logic to your internet experience and you'll be on your first step to a quicker, faster and trouble free computing experience!

Great common sense there by seige...I used to answer some questions on protonic (I wasn't very good at it ) and a good 15% of the questions could have been solved by getting rid of NIS. Cr*pware at its worst.

Kati