Ip addresses

[Justified]

Can anyone tell me if you computer comes with an original ip address.. What I mean is if you are not hooked up to the internet does your computer have an ip address that it came with as if it were from the manufacturer?? And where can I find mine? And if someone has hacked your computer can they get this ip address and gain administrative rights to your computer?

[DJHyperbyte]

Firstly, 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.

[arigato]

so how can I hide my IP or make it unreal IP, could you tell me some software which can do that? thx

[rustedtight]

quote:Originally posted by arigato

so how can I hide my IP or make it unreal IP, could you tell me some software which can do that? thx

Read Djhyperbites post again, obviously you glossed over it and understood nothing. Cos if you could hide it then you wouldnt exist on the web in so much as you could not communicate with any site or service.

[DoS]

DJHyperbyte the post was great I even used this link to help some people who asked me the same question, its really a very easy (spoon feeding) way to let someone undrestand what an IP address is.
Arigato - you can use a firewall to be anonymous. Hackers could get your IP address but with the help of a firewall they will think that your ip address doesnt exist. As Rustedtight said you cant hide it, its not possible but using a proxy can keep you secure as well.
The point is, you can secure your connection but you cant hide it.

[DJHyperbyte]

Glad to read you found my post helpful DoS.


So, arigato, back to the example of a house. How big is the chance that someone rings your doorbell with the intention of doing bad things to your house? The chances of someone doing harm to your computer are about the same. Besides, it greatly depends on what you are doing with your computer.

If you are doing things online that other people do not like then the chances are those other people might get nasty. Either way, as it was suggested before - a locked door will keep most hackers out. Install a decent firewall!

Finally, the thought that the internet is full of people who want to do nothing but harm your computer is fictive. The thought that more than 0.01% of the people online even know how to do harm to your computer is quite silly also.

[rustedtight]

Censured

[DoS]

rustedtight well your pointing at hacker who wants to attempt something and hides himself at the same time. thats not the point at all ! this guy is a normal user on the internet. Lets say he wants to visit www.yahoo.com when clicks on enter he sends his info the website threw his ip address in this case he is not anonymous anymore.
What I was talking about is that if I am just using the net and someone is running a "Port Scanner...ect " on a wide range of IP addresses and my IP address in between those. Well here is the point when his port scanner will try to scan my IP address ( note: the attacker doesnt know that this ip address is online ) my firewall wont reply back to his port scanner or will activate TRAP IT! on his attempt wich will make the attacker think that my ip address is dead ( isnt active )
thats my point about bieng anonymous to an attacker, and not trying to do stupid stuff and stay anonymous! its just for Personal Security not *Attack and Hide* game your talking about wich would be almost impossible to hide from.

[Tfel Dnah]

DoS, You are not anonymous tho you are invisible, as those ports are not responding cos the firewall has been set-up not to do so.
Effectively you were found and a probe of your ports was simply not replied to.

[DoS]

Tfel Dnah, I know that my IP was found ( it could be found in alot of way ) moderators here can see my IP address for security reasons and so. but what I meant that when someone tries to do a Wide IP scan your IP would seem anonymous ) and thats what they ' firewalls ' mean by anonymous