Tracing IP address help!

[zhugeliang]

Well bugsy, technically the wrong question was asked. The "correct" question would be "Can one obtain an IP address of the people one chat with on yahoo messenger?" Which the answer is yes, but not directly. It has been mentioned many times in this thread as to how this can be done, so I won't go into that. Now, as for Polax's statement (still not sure why he/she said what they said), this is only true for the most part, however it's a huge waste of time. Why use a proxy when the most someone can get out of your IP address is a general location of where you are. Just under half of the people that try to trace my IP address can't even get any closer than 4 hours from the town I live in. For most, it's an hour and a half. You can't obtain any personal information from an IP address, and you can't gain access to a computer via an IP address unless that address specificially allows it. All these "hacking" attacks that have been all over the news are related to "worms and viruses" not hackers actually attacking anything, and 90% (according to the SANS organization) of hack attempts come from the inside.

I'm sure a lot of you have been asking this question because you worry about someone being able to hack you (you've probably had someone on yahoo tell you that they can hack you or get your IP) but it is all false (if you follow the advice of the rest of the thread. If not, then they can get your IP, and that's it).

[Icarion]

use this http://www.checkim.com

[stormy]

Hi, I'm new here and i've browse thru all the replies,

"You can not find the mail ids of a person just from the ip address and No there is no way YOU can track a person who has cracked your account."

and i just wanted to know that, my yahoo mail been hacked, infos been changed and will yahoo telling me the hacker's ip? or they won't review it at all? I'm one of the moderator in a forum and i can find the match for the ip if one if my member did it.

[Dermot]

Yahoo! will not give any information to you about said account as it is an invasion of privacy even if you say the account is yours.

The fact is it is that once you sign up for a Yahoo! Account you are then solely responsible for it, yahoo! offer the forgot password function as a liberty for you and if you cannot fill it in or they have changed your information it is your fault for allowing them or for having "easy" information to "crack".

Most companies that offer accounts stress how important it is to have strong passwords and offer secret questions for a reason, if you dont write these down or dont put down or something you will remember then no one is to blame but yourself.

I can't stress how important it is to watch what you do in chat and watch what you say, people who "crack" accounts can use certain information..

~ Your Date of birth
~ Your e-mail
~ Your living area (state/province)
~ Personal Information

...against you in more ways than one...like if i asked you were you are from...and you say texas, you narrowed me down to know your zip code by just a couple....i ask you for your e-mail to e-mail you...i have your e-mail..i ask you what age you are in jest and say im same age and joke about whos older and ask "exactly" when it's your bday...you answer...you might as well have given me your account at this stage...these are the kind of questions you need to be weary of in chat, this is why the "Secret Question" is so important as the info you just gave me above has me in your secret question area already...say you have a question .."my youngest sons name" and i ask you in pm...you have any kids? normally you will answer and if i ask whats their names...you more than likely will answer. (i hope you're understanding how easy this can be) Now i have your account details and the answer to your secret question...i might as well own your yahoo account.

Hope this is a wakeup call for most and hope you can learn to keep your personal information "personal" in future and dont click links that ask you to login to view someone pic's in chat, "Yahoo! Photos" is NOT a login service and NEVER login to Geocities sub domain sites asking for you to login with to view pictures.

Stay Safe and think Wise!
Happy Chatting!

[stormy]

thanks Dermot so much for your prompt reply

[tmaxx187]

this may have been hit on already but according to my knowledge as a tech: ISP decides static ip or DHCP configuration not your modem. static ip is usually for business. otherwise the internet would be tapped out of all class IPs, awaiting the implementation of IPv6. IPaddresses can give a cracker a starting point on where to look for vulnerabilities like and open port to send a file. ISPs lease Ip addresses for a certain time and change them regularly using DHCP, most consumers ips are DHCP configured. dont really wanna talk about dedicated stuff so... firewalls do hide ips, filter ports and packets (may require some tweaking) but do not encrypt. ips can be obtained by interceptors with packet sniffing software and a NIC in promiscuous mode but this requires a connection on a network whether it be an unsecured wireless net or a wired. email progs like outlook can get ips but they change regularly so who cares. my advise, get a router that supports NAT. wireless? use WPA encryption at least and maybe throw in mac address filtering, this is configured on your routers interface. ZONEALARM is a free, good, and basic firewall that will have no problem blocking remote access unless you allow it (this is the real threat) and will even tell you when you are being pinged or if someone is trying to telnet you. depending on your operating system, unless you ask for remote assistance no one can access your PC remotely. however, if i installed GoToMyPC on your computer and maybe later got in and threw a key logger onto you system then i can do real harm. a trojan can act in the same manner as GTMPC and usually hide awaiting a command from a remote user. dont download the wrong game or porn, check certificates for revokation. might get a backdoor trojan and boom you now have a RAT (remote access trojan) trojan. a backdoor trojan opens a port which could allow a cracker to transfer a larger file thru the port that is the RAT client/server prog. and the phun begins. then you get to troubleshoot, run antivirus, restore your computer, take out your CMOS battery, reload your OS, whatever. its a lot of work. just get a router and setup some good old security. you know, a strong password using capital/lowercase/alphanumeric/ special characters. configure NAT on your router to hide your PCs IP, block port ranges with your router and or PC firewall. let me guess, since i didnt read ALL of the replies, you guys already said all this. sheesh, why didnt you stop me! i was on a roll.

[mikeysnipa]

lol i was going to yell at you, but now I'm kind of lazy. 1. static ip's are for consumers as well as business's, it all depends on what service and plan you have, for instance BellSouth Fast Access offers services but you would have to get the more expensive plan to have a static IP, that all really depends. really though... who cares if someone gets your ip address, between a regular out of the box router, your computer how it is (normally) and SOME isp's security you're pretty well off (I'm not saying your hack proof by any means) you're ip and open ports (if any) can easily be found if the person knows anything about anything. ZONE alarm sucks. also, a trojan can open a port on your computer but not on your router.. so unless they sniffed your network for open ports through your router (you SHOULD keep tabs on that) then programs the trojan for that port.. then its not getting through

really you should never get to the point of having to take out your CMOS battery so if you did.. then you deserve what you got lol, Install a decent Virus Scan, if you REALLY want install a firewall (when was the last time a normal user who doesn't look up porn, ever actually use one?) in the last 10 years i've never been "hacked" and the only time i had computer problems was when i actually had a firewall running, to many people are paranoid
BTW firewall thing is strictly my opinion cuz I'm sure MANY people will say its a must (btw I'm talking about a AVERAGE at home user not business stuff) when it comes to business stuff protect it.

and just to piss of so many more nerds I'm going to have to say "WINDOWS ROCKS"

wrote a bunch on this age old thread so MY B

OH and there is no real threat... so all those people who are afraid of being hacked, don't feel so important you're prob not even noticed on the internet, unless one of your friends surfs the internet for sub7 or something (n00b).

Few TIPS: (for cheap people)
Get AVG free virus
Dont look at porn
Dont download random stuff
Dont search for illegal stuff
Use a router
Just be aware of what your doing
should be good

[Dermot]

Besides this been turned into a personal rant for most the thread has gone seriously off topic.

It's common practice for users to have personal security on their personal computers.

People have to be aware of what files they download and good anti virus programs will scan incoming file transfers, no matter random or not and files even from friends may be infected so it's not a perfect world out there, it's all a learning curve.

Yahoo! do give the user some sense or privacy with them recently removing the follow command and updating how their p2p service works, all to protect you, the user. There is no way to get a IP address of a user just from PMing or chatting in the same room as them, lets clear that up. Some peer to peer connection type service will give the other user your ip but you must accept them first before they can get it, filetransfers, call feature etc.

Some precautions you can take in chat are as follows..

[Encryption]

ELMTree Software - Offers secure communications over the world’s most popular IM networks

Yahoo! Messenger encryption and security software - Encrypt and secure your Yahoo! IM conversations or chats - SimpLite-Yahoo prevents eavesdroppers from reading your personal Yahoo! Messenger conversations.

[Firewalls]

Free Firewall Software - Comodo™ Firewall - Comodo has put firewall through all kinds of sophisticated tests to ensure its firewall powerful enough to ward off these attacks with default settings

Check Point ZoneAlarm - Download & Buy - Most popular free PC firewall product on the market.
Easy-to-use firewall blocks hackers and other unknown threats.

Free Firewall - Download Outpost Firewall Free - Outpost Firewall Free

[Anti Virus]

Antivirus Software - Eliminate Spyware and Adware with NOD32 Antivirus from ESET - ESET NOD32 Antivirus offers superior, comprehensive protection, the fastest scanning throughput, and the least performance impact of any solution.

Free AntiVirus Download for Virus Scan with Comodo AntiVirus™ Software - Eliminates Viruses, Worms and Trojans from desktops and networks.

AVG Free Advisor: Free anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware tools - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is a free anti-virus protection tool developed by GRISOFT for home use. We invite you to join the millions of satisfied customers worldwide who have downloaded the software and now enjoy the benefits of AVG Anti-Virus Free.

AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic - More than Security - Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic reliably protects your private computer against dangerous viruses, worms, Trojans and costly dialers.

Free antivirus - avast! 4 Home Edition - avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users and non-commercial use

Download documentation, updates, and betas for Kaspersky Lab products - This improved easy-to-use solution provides complete antivirus protection that allows you to surf the web safely and keeps your PC free of viruses, Internet and email worms, and Trojans.

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On this note this topic is closed.