Can IP Address be traced?
- Thread starter insman
- Start date
About two years ago I got a call from the Kitchener Waterloo Police asking if I had been using the internet to send out unsolicited porn to residents in their area. Of course it wasn't true and after we discussed it and I managed to convince them that I wasn't doing it, I asked how they got my home number.
It turns out that the person doing it was doing so from a yahoo account that was linked by Yahoo...for the K-W cops...to me and Yahoo gave them my address and phone number.
During the conversation the cop told me the yahoo account and it was close to mine....but not it. (this is how I convinced them it was a mistake).
I tried to contact Yahoo to talk to someone about this mistake and what I felt was a gross breach of privacy. But to know avail. I discovered that there was no way to contact Yahoo...they live behind pretty thick walls.
Eventually I gave up trying. But I did learn one thing.
My business life is in my lap top. I now back it up regularly on an external hard drive which I keep tucked away. I realised that had they still suspected me, they could have seized the lap top and held it for awhile searching for evidence. This would have been catastrophic for my business.
For a whole bunch of reasons...backing up your laptop regularly and keeping it "away" is a good idea.
It turns out that the person doing it was doing so from a yahoo account that was linked by Yahoo...for the K-W cops...to me and Yahoo gave them my address and phone number.
During the conversation the cop told me the yahoo account and it was close to mine....but not it. (this is how I convinced them it was a mistake).
I tried to contact Yahoo to talk to someone about this mistake and what I felt was a gross breach of privacy. But to know avail. I discovered that there was no way to contact Yahoo...they live behind pretty thick walls.
Eventually I gave up trying. But I did learn one thing.
My business life is in my lap top. I now back it up regularly on an external hard drive which I keep tucked away. I realised that had they still suspected me, they could have seized the lap top and held it for awhile searching for evidence. This would have been catastrophic for my business.
For a whole bunch of reasons...backing up your laptop regularly and keeping it "away" is a good idea.
Excellent advice!
Oh, as an afterthought, the only way you can truly maintain your privacy WRT the Internet is to use an internet cafe, public library or other similar anonymous place (like the old public telephone.)
Otherwise, a smart, well-trained and experienced investigator (there are more and more of these people working for major police forces, RCMP, FBI, Secret Service, CSIS, NSA... I can go on and on) can soon track back to where your computer plugs into the Internet.
Oh, as an afterthought, the only way you can truly maintain your privacy WRT the Internet is to use an internet cafe, public library or other similar anonymous place (like the old public telephone.)
Otherwise, a smart, well-trained and experienced investigator (there are more and more of these people working for major police forces, RCMP, FBI, Secret Service, CSIS, NSA... I can go on and on) can soon track back to where your computer plugs into the Internet.
P.S.
What about utilities such as Ghost Surf?? They claim to mask user's IP addresses, disable spyware etc. for internet privacy. Do they actually work, or is it just another marketing ploy??
What about utilities such as Ghost Surf?? They claim to mask user's IP addresses, disable spyware etc. for internet privacy. Do they actually work, or is it just another marketing ploy??
by using software to ping your address, no.insman said:
I think they could map out what possible routes the packets take to get to your ip address. they could get a good idea of where you are.
they would have to set up a packet logger at several nodes and eventually they could theoretically get to your home address.
Can anyone tell me if it is true that you can change your IP address by disconnecting you cable modem for about an hour?
Someone told me that you ISP will assign a new number if there is a disconnect at you modem.
Someone told me that you ISP will assign a new number if there is a disconnect at you modem.
Not unless you are guilty of internet abuse and you are reported to the cops. Some IPs will give you a rough idea which area the person lives ( sometimes within a block) and definitely corporate IPs can be traced back to the company or organization in many casesinsman said:
