Internet Privacy / IP Address Question, expert help required

[restless]

Hi guys, first I want to make it clear that this is not a request to get anything hacked, nor a desire for programs that could do it for me.

What I would like to learn, is if its at all possible to remain anonymous on a forum.

As far as I know, when i log into a forum, my IP address is revealed, but can the administrator see anything else? Such as computer specs and exact location? And what can he do with this information? The basic idea here is to access a forum i'm already posting on, but without anyone knowing its me until I choose to reveal it. I know how to change my IP address, but I am wondering if there are other ways I might be recognized, and how I can avoid it.

To make it short, is it at all possible to recognize me if I change my ip address, and is on a new computer, but on the same network as before?

If you are curious, I am not banned from that forum, this is intended to be a joke, since the admin and I are good friends.

Thanks in advance :)

[Ezekiel]

my IP address is revealed, but can the administrator see anything else? Such as computer specs and exact location?

Well, yes and no. He can see your IP address, and he can see certain information passed in the user agent string (such as browser and OS), but none of this is personally identifying, and he most certainly can NOT find your exact location from your IP number; he will only get your ISP's location unless you are in a 'corporate network' like those at school, college, or at your work place, running off a leased line.

All you have to do is use a proxy, and there will be no evidence that it is you connecting from this new IP address.

[Halla]

/me agrees/w mike...

On a forum (depending on the forum) you're only ID'd by IP, email (if applicable) and member name. However if they look up the logs on the server they can get more info such as OS, browser, resolution, etc. Depending on how nutty they want to get if they are hosting it themselves they could match IP with mac address and catch you that way I suppose... in which case connecting to a public, insecure or whatever wireless network and spoofing your mac address will take care of that.

What Im saying is that using a proxy, a different email addy and member name should be fine. If you're using IE as a browser you should blend right in. If you decide to spoof your mac as well theres no way to trace you back to you... well, no easy/inexpensive way at least.

[restless]

Thanks for the response, I got a question though :)


Depending on how nutty they want to get if they are hosting it themselves they could match IP with mac address and catch you that way I suppose... in which case connecting to a public, insecure or whatever wireless network and spoofing your mac address will take care of that.

What exactly is a mac address? I'm not completely lost when it comes to computers, but there are also a whole lot of things I dont know, and this is one of them. How could such a matching be done if I recieve a new IP Address(although on the same network, with the same router), and is on a new computer?

[Halla]

Rather than go into detail about mac addresses (something that Im sure theres a crapload of info out there already that can explain better and more in depth than I) I'll answer your question in regard to the context.
So in this case, think of a mac address kind of like a vin number on a cars engine. Even if you put the engine in another car, it still has the numbers. A mac address is kind of similar. Your ethernet card has a value (mac address) that, if needed can be traced back to the iptable in the router you're using, perhaps the ISPs records or even the manufacturer, thus presumably back to you.

If you're using a totally different computer regeardless of the network being the same, then using the mac to match you up isnt exactly applicable so dont sweat it. I was under the impression you were using a proxy or other means to change your IP using the same machine and if that were the case your mac address would still be the same, unless you spoofed it.
Hope that helps.

[restless]

Thanks again :) Well I really doubt he would go to such lengths to find out, there just could be a slight suspicion he checks up on. Is it impossible for the forum admin to figure out, say, the type of router i am using?

[Halla]

unless they have access to your network, they shouldnt be able to tell what type of router (if any) you're using. I hate to say anythings impossible so lets say its highly unlikely. make that exceptionally unlikely.

[Ezekiel]

unless they have access to your network, they shouldnt be able to tell what type of router (if any) you're using. I hate to say anythings impossible so lets say its highly unlikely. make that exceptionally unlikely.

Well actually, a lot of routers allow you to externally access the web configuration interface on port 80 simply from entering someone's IP address into your browser. You would think the web config pages would be limited to being only accessible from computers in the LAN, but a lot of routers allow this external administration by default.

There is no security risk in this (it's password protected), but you can definitely find the type of router. Once you connect on port 80, you will be required to enter a password to continue - this password prompt will usually contain the brand name, version, etc of the router.

So for example a guy is sitting at his computer and grabs his friend's IP address after an IM direct connection. He then can enter this address in his browser, and although he can not get into the admin pages, he can see certain info just from the password prompt.

I haven't used too many routers, so if I am wrong in assuming most of them allow external administration, someone correct me.

[restless]

Thanks, thanks :)

One other thing(I know, i just want to be on the safe side though ;) )

When I check my IP address via "ipconfig /all" in cmd, it comes up with a **2.*68 address under IP Address, and then another **2.*68 address which is the address of my router, but makes no mention of the real ip address, which I have to find by other means, whats up with that? Does this mean the router is somehow covering up my ip address? Yet web pages such as whatismyipaddress.com can clearly see the ip address, so it doesnt seem exceptionally well hidden in that case.

Thanks :)

[Halla]

Youre talking about internal and external IPs, which gets into networking, specificlly NAT (network address translation) which allows your router to use one address for a variety of IPs and routes the information accordingly (hence the term router)

I dont know how deep you want to go into this but its a whole other world of shit you're opening up. ;) If I were to go fully in-depth this thread would be ridiculously long and you'd probably be able to go get your CCNA and ICND certs!

heres a general explanation:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk648/tk*6*/technologies_tech_note0**86a00800*48**.shtml

for the record ciscos site has an immense amount of info, so thats the place to go to get nutty if you feel so inclined. As a network guy, I s***est it. :D

Im not here all the time and one of the mods asked me to remove my site link from my sig for whatever reason but if you need to catch me Im often at the informationleak.com forums (ilforums.thedarksun.org) so if I dont reply in a timely manner you can always catch me there.

oh, and mike... most routers are like PCs.. they should have pws and protection from remote access but.......yeah. Most users dont do that.
Silly? you bet. Stupid? yup. Such is the way of security, no one takes it seriously until they get robbed. Kind of like how everyone hates cops until they need one.