A couple of weeks ago I was banned, again, from another message board I sometimes frequent.

The means they use to ban you is to stick a cookie on your PC and to then block all postings from PCs which have that cookie on it. If you remove the cookie you can then return to posting happily. This is a fair thing to do because the banning is invariably just a wee misunderstanding.

This time though the ban was a second tier ban, and I can't get around it. I guessed they must be looking at the IP address of my PC but I proved it wasn't that by signing in through two other ISPs and therefore having a different IP address, but I still can't get on to post.

My gut feel on how they have done is that they must have the equivalent of a cookie on my PC somewhere. I have searched through the temporary internet files and removed everything that looks suspicious, or was dated on the day of the banning order. That hasn't helped. Next guess is that ages ago they put a trojan horse type file somewhere on my PC which they have now switched on. This file would then get transmitted with each attempted posting and blocked at their server. This file could, of course, be anywhere, called anything. How do I find it ? I've got some highly qualified networking/computer security pals who could find out (one has the dubious CV qualification of being a "Penetration Engineer", and it's not Gav) but I'm a bit reluctant to embarrass myself by asking for their assistance.

Can any of you help ??

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

Answers

They could use the MAC address of your network card try a different pc.

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

Just to make this perfectly clear....when you say you've logged on using other machines (ie IP Addresses), does the site still require you to use a username that you've set up? cos it'd be very easy for them just to ban that username from their end....

I'm assuming that you'd know that so again just let me get this straight.....you've tried to log onto a system through a number of different IP connections (on your machine only?) and been unsuccessful?

Have you tried using a different machine? what are the results?

Possibly some kind of session id system...

How about you mail me your logon details and the url of the site and I'll try from here, I can also log all comms stuff and have a look at what it's doing in a bit more detail?

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

No there is no password protection on it at all, which is why I quite like the idea of it being physical, either a file or MAC address sounds good, although my knowledge isn't up to knowing whether modems at home have MAC addresses

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

I think I know how its done , Through your CLI , try logging on from a different telphone number. Certain service providers (freeserve) insist you supply your CLI thats why you must put 1470 infront of your number if your ex dir.

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

MacB.....that same site banned me in the same way with the IP address sometime ago.....(now there's a suprise).......but when I went on to another PC and pointed out that I could still get in, they did it again to that PC. One by one I moved around the office (we've got 42 PC's here) but eventually they somehow banned any posting from the BBC address at all.

This p!ssed off the few makems that work here.......but moreover, it really p!ssed off the ones at the Sunderland office of BBC Newcastle, (he he) and they lifted the ban and hey presto.....Stew Canel, like the pheonix, rises from the ashes yet again.

However, talking to one of our techie people her, who went off and looked at the message board, he reckons that the system that they are using only allows for a temporary blocking anyway (28 days max - there you go, proof positive that they are c***s) and that the system would then dismiss the banning.

Anyone else shed light on that idea?

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

Stew

Your experience points to a cookie that expires after 28/30 days. That was the one I found, this is cleverer. I even went through a site http://www.anonymiser.com/ on a suggestion, which lets me in but won't let me post.

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001

Macbeth, have you tried changing your computer id????

You see I used to once wind the mackems up on RTG with great effect, which eventually got me banned just like yourself, BUT NOT FOR LONG!

All you do is,

Go to your networks icon in your control panel; Click on your identification tab; Change your computer name (P.S. write down the computers old name just in case that name is needed again etc); Restart your computer, log on and.............

You may have to change your work group name too, which is the field under th computer name field (again write down your work group name).

-- Anonymous, January 25, 2001