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March 15, 2007 at 12:50 am #26607Slickrick77Member
Here goes, So i have DSL in my home, not comcast cable, so therefore i have a static IP address right, one that does not change evertime i log on line, correct? my understanding is that an individual with a cable internet hookup in their home has a different IP address frequently, it keeps changing or something? Can someone break it down to me? So can a friend of urs that has gotten ur IP address thru an email or something, can they tell when you log off and online? just cause they have ur ip address, what does that mean, can they tell if ur on AIM can they know ur online somehow?
Just by knowing an IP address, is it possible to tell if someone is online? could they hack into things of mine like AIM or my buddy lists?
March 15, 2007 at 1:12 am #159213TigerbladeParticipantknowing your IP is next to meaningless. You want mine? I’ll give it to you if you want. There’s not much you can do with it. If you’re desperate, you might trace it to the provider (I have SBC Yahoo DSL) but beyond that there’s not much information connected to it.
No one can tell if you’re on or offline, if you’re logged into AIM or not, nothing. Your IP is just a way for the network to know which computer to send information to, like a mailing address for your computer. Think of it like this, just because you know your friend’s phone number doesn’t allow you to know when he’s leaving his house or making dinner. Same principle.
If you’re worried about someone hacking into your computer, even though the chances are minimal, make sure you have a good firewall running. I’ve got two basic firewalls — the one provided by my router, and the one provided by my antivirus protection suite. i could install a few more if i wanted, but there’s not really a need.
edit: if you want to check your IP address periodically (to see if it is in fact changing) you can use this site: Current IP Check
March 15, 2007 at 1:36 am #159223Slickrick77Memberif its meaningless, then why are some people all into getting their buddies IP adds. thru IM’s and all, if u cant do nuttin with it? Your saying its simply a network thing, its numbers for use by the networks? Although it is said that AIM buddies can get ur IP by chattin’ wit ya right?
do ip addresses play any kind of role in AIM?
By the way, uve answered all my messages today Tigerblade, and i really appreciate it, uve made me feel a bit safer especially with the whole AIM away message tracking questions, thanks man you really know ur $hit.
March 15, 2007 at 1:58 am #159214TigerbladeParticipantSome people like to pretend they can hack into your computer simply by knowing your IP, and they like scaring people who don’t know better. There’s not much more of an explanation for it than that. It’s just a network thing, just a way for one computer to communicate with another. Your computer uses its IP to let other computers know where to send information back — like I said, think of it like a mailing address for your computer.
I’m not sure if you can get someone’s IP by chatting with them. I imagine it’s possible, but I think you might need to be directly connected (meaning, opening a direct IM connection like you’d be sending files or something) for that to work.
As far as I know, the only role IP addresses play in AIM (or any IM network for that matter) is as I mentioned above, as an address so the network knows where to send the data.
And no problem man, that’s what we’re here for.
March 16, 2007 at 4:58 am #159224Slickrick77MemberOk, so if an ip address is simply a way for computers and networks to communicate and know where to send mail and all, then whats te point of firewalls? obviously they are to prevent bad things, but what kind of bad things? because i watch my firewall block hundreds of events per day, and it shows the attempted port penetration and the ip address where it comes from as well as the hostname….but what are all these companies/hackers trying to accomplish?? is it all negative stuff?? what are the deal with ports? I believe Tigerblade, you told me that IP address are no real biggy, but it sure seems like many people want at my comp as well as all the other millions of people with firewalls in this world. Is it because when we’re online we have a direct connection and anything can filter in, therefore a fireall blocks that? when we chat on AIM, we are not chatting directly correct? we type a message, it goes through a sever and then is received by our budyy right? so its not like we really even have a direct connection with our buddy unless we open one volunatrily.
just what exactly are these people trying to do, these people that my firewall is blocking, cause i trace the events to see where they are coming from and its all over.
0103hrs.(et)
March 21, 2007 at 4:33 am #159225Slickrick77Membercan an aol subscriber or AIM member grab ur ip thru a convo?
March 21, 2007 at 4:57 am #159215TigerbladeParticipantunless you’re directly connected, not really. i’m not all that savvy when it comes to the network connections involved — that’s more up Dave or Spike’s alley — but as far as I know you can get the other person’s IP through a direct connection, but not through a standard conversation.
March 22, 2007 at 4:01 am #159226Slickrick77Memberwhat the difference betwn the two, a direct connection and an AIM chat wit a buddy?, doesnt the AIM convo wit a buddy go through a servr before it goes to them, the server acts a middleman correct? but yet a DC skips the middleman(the server)?
April 11, 2007 at 4:57 am #159227Slickrick77Memberanyone?
April 11, 2007 at 5:47 am #159216TigerbladeParticipantI’m pretty sure that’s how it works, yes. Normal conversations are routed through the AIM servers, but direct connects are exactly that — direct connections between your computer and your friend’s computer.
April 11, 2007 at 8:33 pm #159211DavidParticipantFor another explanation of how IP addressing works, see this quote from a while back:
Quote:quote:Originally posted by DJHyperbyteFirstly, let me clear something up. An IP address is not something special or secret. It’s not a number that contains all your personal info and it will not make you coffee.
An IP address is simply an address that network devices (such as computers and routers) can use to reach other network devices in a network. You could see it as a street address. The network is the street and each network device is a house. So, let’s say my IP address is ‘192.168.0.5’, then I live in the street ‘192.168.0’ and my house number is ‘5’.
Now every street has at least one postman. The postman knows the locations of other streets and other houses. Let’s take a simple example: you connect to MSN Messenger. You click on the ‘Login’ button and then your computer immediatly asks the postman “Hey, send this letter to MSN! I want to login!”. The postman sends the letter with your username and password to MSN Messenger and then MSN Messenger sends a letter back to either deny or confirm your login.
— At this point you have already given your IP address to at least two other network devices. The postman in your street and the computers at MSN.
Now you are going to send a file via MSN Messenger to a friend. Your friend clicks ‘Accept’ and with that, his computer sends you a letter containing: “Yes, I want to accept the transfer. This is my address…”.
— Now at least three computers know your IP address. Your postman, the computers at MSN and your friend’s computer.
This is, greatly simplified, how the internet works. Now your original questions:
- If I am not hooked up to the internet, does my computer have an IP address?
If you buy a house in a street, will it have a house number? Of course! So as long as your computer is participating in a network it will have an IP address. - Is an IP address determined by the manufacterer?
No, this depends on the network you participate in. Often a network gives you an IP address automatically, sometimes you have to enter one manually. - How do I find my IP address?
This depends on what IP address you are looking for. If your computer is behind a router then you will have both an internal (LAN) and an external (internet) IP address. With the ‘ipconfig’ program (Start -> Run -> ‘cmd’ -> ‘ipconfig’) you can find your internal IP address. Your external address can be found by visiting this webpage. If you don’t have a router, but are connected directly to the internet, then your internal IP address and external IP address will be the same. - If someone hacked my computer, can they find my IP address?
If someone broke into your house, then must know where you lived in the first place. So if someone on the internet has hacked you, then they knew your IP address already. - Can someone gain administrative rights when they know my IP address?
Simply put: no. But this really depends on your computer. It might be possible that there is a malicious program (such as a trojan) that opens a backdoor in your computer so hackers can walk right in. Generally, when your computer is behind a router or when you have installed a decent firewall, you don’t need to worry about this at all.
Hope this cleared things up.
[This quotation has been revised from the original submission due to BBCode-version issues and broken hyper links]
Now for the previous question: Can someone tell I’m online with my IP address?
The answer is maybe. They cannot tell whether you are on AIM or not, but they may be able to tell if your computer is running or not. Depending on how your equipment is configured, your computer may send a response when asked for one. If this is the case–it’s not a big deal, since most people leave their computers on all the time.
When you connect to AIM, you connect to a central login server, everyone connects to this same server (or cluster for your technical people–but thats not relevant). When you make a direct connection the AIM server uses some clever networking technologies to punch a hole in both of your firewalls and allow you to connect to each other directly and send data. During this process, you have a data stream between your and your buddy’s computer. So yes, since you are sending data directly to them, they can get your address. But remember this is only while directly connected. If you are just chatting normally, all data is sent through the AOL server, and you are no more than a screen name to the person on the other end.
April 12, 2007 at 2:25 am #159228Slickrick77MemberThats freakin’ awesome!
September 5, 2007 at 3:33 am #159222Slickrick77MemberDavid, you said maybe they can tell if youre online, well, i hope your not misunderstanding me, what im trying to say is, if you wanna watch someone online, from a screen name they arent aware u have, they there is no way for them to know ur watching them or anyone else on that list of your b/c its via a name they dont associate with you, they can only tell ur online if they see the usual SN on that u use to chat wit them correct?
or are u also saying, no matter how many “covert/ secret” names u have, as long as they know the name u usually use with them, they can track your online status no matter how mnay new and diff. sn’s you were to make?
Thanks D.
September 5, 2007 at 12:29 pm #159219Doris KenneyParticipantI think what David’s trying to say is they may be able to tell if your computer is physically ON from and IP address, as opposed to being shut down. They cannot tell what programs you’re using, what screen names you may be logged into or anything else, simply that your computer is on and connected to the internet.
I don’t personally use AIM, but with most IM programs, in order to “watch” a particular person, you’d have to be on their buddy list. If you don’t accept unknown add requests you shouldn’t have to worry about being watched. As a good safety practice – not only should you not accept people you don’t know, but NEVER accept a direct file transfer from a stranger – photo, document, etc. or you could end up with a virus you didn’t expect. Unless you’re 100% sure of the source be very careful.
-Doris-
September 6, 2007 at 12:41 am #159218RU Still DownMemberthese days AIM servers can proxy “Direct Connections” (i know Pidgin supports AIM proxied Direct IMs). This is because most people do not know how to forward ports correctly. Also, as far as i know, AIM doesn’t use UPnP to automatically forward ports on your router. So, you don’t really have to be worried of someone finding out your IP through a direct connect unless you are not behind a router (i.e. are directly connected to your modem).
- If I am not hooked up to the internet, does my computer have an IP address?
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