A note of precaution

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Unk's Troll-free Private Saloon : One Thread

I'm sure by now most of ya have seen the IP tracking thingee over at the "open discussion" board.To alot of people those numbers don't mean squat but to the people who have been tinkering with the system like they have, they (IP#'s) are gold.I know Anita's gonna tell me "no biggie" and basically I agree, come on over lets have a beer or a fight, take your pick.But.....they can seriously screw up your machine to hell and back.I strongly urge those of you that don't have some type of a firewall set up to search the net and at least find a freebie and install asap.

Then, if they start attacking us one by one we will have their IP and can take steps of our own.

Just my 2¢ worth.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2001

Answers

capn, this is a little disconcerting to me, too. I'm hoping one of the literate software people here can offer reassurance. I didn't click on the little globe thingie, but did copy the URL. My firewall is sucky, so I'm not going to go poking into the URL. If anyone else wants to, it's http://t.extreme-dm.com/?login=anytip. I saw where someone said it locked their system up. That may be total bovine excrement, but I'm not going to be the one to check it.

Also, a question for Unk or Deb. This forum's log-in page can't be accessed with anonymizer.com. I nearly always use anonymizer when surfing the net, but have to forego it to come here. Is that necessary?

-- (just an@anonymous.one), November 29, 2001.


Did a google search for http://t.extreme-dm.com. It's a free utility from a website with the URL www.extreme-dm.com. It's for tracking the traffic on your own website. (See http://www.med iactiv.co.uk/support/tracking.html for explanation.)

It couldn't track your IP passively. You would have to click on the icon that the stupid troll put on the LUSENET pages. So, don't do that. Other than that, it's harmless.

The interesting thing is that the tracking logs are hosted on www.extreme-dm.com's website. I wonder if the stupid troll is violating the host's TOS? If anyone is interested in pursuing that, it might be worth an email to abuse@extreme-dm.com.

-- (just an@anonymous.one), November 29, 2001.


I used an anonymizer and went back in to recheck how it tracked me, then I came here, so it does work.

I'm using The Cloak service BTW and it seems to be working fine.

I hope they try and attack moi, I will have their IP and then it will be time to have some fun.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2001.


Hmmm...interesting. I use anonymizer.com. When I try to access the log in screen I get a message that the page is not accessible. The error page shows this stamp: AOLserver/3.2+ad10 on http://greenspun.com, which did make me wonder why greenspun server would be going through AOL?? Somebody tell me I'm just being paranoid. capn, I hope you doget a crack at the loser(s) who have done all this damage.

-- (just an@anonymous.one), November 29, 2001.

I sent the co a note and directed them to the addy, plus the fact that it was residing on an MIT server.I don't know how much good it will do though as they are located in the Netherlands.

Maybe an E to someone at MIT might be the way to go?

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2001.



The AOL server stuff doesn't really mean AOL proper, Z explained it once and it made sense.I wouldn't lose any sleep over it but better safe than sorry.It would be best to not even go there.As far as reprisal, I'm sure there are enough people here that know exactly what and how to do it allready, I'd have to bone up on bein' that big of an cyber asshole.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2001.

Good idea. IIRC, Phil G was pretty helpful to the old guard sysops when idiots were spamming and hacking up the place. I think the e would have to come from Unk, if he's interested in pursuing it. Since whoever posted the tracker thing is probably the same person who's vandalizing Unks and otther LUSENET forums, it might be worth the trouble.

-- (just an@anonymous.one), November 29, 2001.

cap, I meant I get the AOL server message when I try to log in here using anonymizer. If I turn off anonymizer, I get right in. If Z comes around, maybe he can 'splain it.

I'm glad to know that cyber=assholery isn't in your bag of tricks. :-D

'Nite, capn

-- (just an@anonymous.one), November 29, 2001.


I sent a link to Phil that Extreme was collecting IP's, at least it's something pro-active.Oh well, at least we know where not to go and what not to click on.

I think I'm ready for a cold one now : )

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2001.


Cap'n,

It depends on how you access the Web. Some methods (such as DSL) can assign an IP to your machine, meaning that, while you're on the Web, yes, anyone can poke into your machine if they know your unique IP address.

But if you're using a plain ol' dialup (like I am), they're pounding sand with a flat plastic hammer if they try to trace me. They'll wind up right in the middle of a huge server bank at the Bellsouth building in Atlanta or Birmingham. :)

Of course ... if you DO have a fixed IP address assigned to your machine, then yes, you SHOULD have a good firewall in place.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), November 29, 2001.



Anonymous,

Phil used the AOL Server *software* to build LUSENET. It's not actually part of AOL.

(And AOLServer *is* about 4 years out of date now, but that's for another post[g].)

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), November 29, 2001.


The troll who attacked unk's other place and some other lusenet boards is on this board too.

-- . (-@-.-), November 29, 2001.

@,

What leads you to say that?

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2001.


Stephen,

I never used to worry about it either, as I also was on a dial up with Bellsouth.But times and modems change along with the tactics.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2001.


Just so I don't disappoint you, Capn: "No biggie." I'll take the beer, I have a firewall, AND I have all ports closed manually. I got really into the security thing a few years back. I still don't know why. If this PC contains the most important stuff about my life, I'm in big trouble. I've never been hacked, and doubt that I will be, at least not before I take a sledge-hammer to this piece of shit myself.

I didn't click on that ICON, simply because I didn't want to see everyone else's IP. Wasn't that the draw? "Click here to see everyone's IP."

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), November 29, 2001.



I knew you wouldn't disappoint me hon ; ) And ya know we're allways good fer a beer.... or 12. Maybe that's why I got hung up on whatyacallit, with the better safe than sorry syndrome.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), November 29, 2001.

Just@an, I know what you mean.. Something doesn't smell right. Surely the terms of their agreement with the "extreme-dm" service do not include setting up to monitor someone ELSE's web traffic.... but that is what they are doing. There is no javascript in the "oldtimers still lurking" thread, yet it IS being monitored if you go in and look at the first link they provided

Now, we all know that IP addys and their reverse hostnames (also harvested) are pretty uninformative, so this is not a huge deal for any of us as individuals. Also it is work for them to even link a particular IP with a particular post, for their list does not distinguish between page views (of which there are many) and posts. So they will likely get bored with the low returns on their efforts. Still, the activity is ugly and covert. It does leave people without firewalls and trojan detectors (via virus checkers) open to attacks, in theory anyway...

Think on it, and you too can envision how they've done it. You and Capn did well to contact the company and PhilG. I'm saying no more in this venue.

-- Debbie (dbspence@pobox.com), November 30, 2001.


Cap:

I get these all of the time; evidently less often than most. Generally, they are AOL. Who knows what they are doing since I am logged on to AOL.

The one I just got a minute ago was from:

Phoenix Networks (NETBLK-STL2-DSL) 6691 Owens Drive Pleasanton, CA 94588 US

Netname: STL2-DSL Netblock: 64.32.128.0 - 64.32.255.255 Maintainer: PHNT

Coordinator: MegaPath Networks Inc. (ZM125-ARIN) arin-abuse@megapath.net 925-201-2500

Domain System inverse mapping provided by:

NS1.MEGAPATH.NET 216.200.176.4 NS2.MEGAPATH.NET 216.34.237.2

I could look it up, but I am going to sleep. Have a nice night. ;o)

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), November 30, 2001.


Z - You do cook a mean salmon. That is to say, I do, if following your lead. My DH was just wondering why the salmon is so much better these days. Mes compliments au chef. Ta ta and sweet dreams!

-- Debbie (dbspence@pobox.com), November 30, 2001.

Debbie, we could combine what I know about scripts with what you know about scripts, and we'd have...what you know about scripts :-). But, I think I follow you somewhat.

If anyone hears back from extreme-dm or Phil, please let us know. I mentioned on another thread the idea of approaching Phil about paying him to add an HTML filter to his software. It would be in his own best interests if he doesn't want LUSENET to implode. I don't want us to have to move, and would be willing to kick in more than a few $$. Bet others would, too. Anyone else?

If you come back this way, maybe you can answer the question for me about why anonymizer.com has been disabled from this forum?

Thx!

-- (just an@anonymous.one), November 30, 2001.


I don't know the why about anonymiser, but I assure you that NOBODY will get any info out of me about who any of you are, or where you post from, or what your email address is.

That my friends, is a very firm promise.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeeD@yahoo.com), December 01, 2001.


Anonymiser doesn't work for me either BTW. I cannot access this forum, nor any of my admin pages with it.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeeD@yahoo.com), December 01, 2001.

That my friends, is a very firm promise.

Unk, love ya man!

Anonymiser doesn't work for me either BTW. I cannot access this forum, nor any of my admin pages with it.

Weird. Anonymizer worked fine here until a couple a days ago when I asked about it. It looked like one of the kiddies was experimenting with javascript to disable anonymizer.com on the WWW forum. Haven't noticed it here, though.

I did have something very weird happen here about a half hour ago. I submitted a post (on the Beatles thread). When I went back to read the main page, I got a message that the page had expired. I hit refresh. It took me to the password page. Entered the password, and got to the forum...only it displayed in threaded format! Left, came back, and everything was normal. Never been much of a tinfoil, but some of this is just plain weird.

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 01, 2001.


The chatroom for this place was weird for me too the past few hours. I keep getting a javascript error message and no access. Anybody know why??

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 01, 2001.

There is a chatroom for this place? You guys have been holding out on me.

-- Jack Booted Thug (governmentconspiracy@NWO.com), December 01, 2001.

JBT - http://www.homestead.com/keast/CHAT.html

We sorta hijacked someone's chatroom.

Oxy, I got that as well. I wonder what's up.

-- (cin@cin.cin), December 01, 2001.


Just an,

I don't know about Anonymizer but The Cloak works fine, it even works on the pages where the coders have been playing.I even tried to flood that list with nothing but The Cloak IP's but to no avail, maybe it would take more than just person doing it : )))

The chat room is giving me the bums rush too, ya reckon they want their room back?

I'd be willing to chip in some deneros fer Phil and the filters (great name for a band), this is the best format IMO and I must say I've surfed hells half acre for anything comparable.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 01, 2001.


Cloak ain't workin for me

capnfun, I'm trying out The Cloak right now. I'm able to log-in, but the forum is displaying in threaded format. Does it do that to you? Also, in the threaded format, clicking on "next" produces an error saying my cookie has expired, so I have to click on each reply to read it. At one point, I got a 505 server gateway error. Now it won't let me reply to this thread without putting something in the subject line. Do you not have any of these issues with The Cloak? My puter seems to hate it...

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 01, 2001.

Well, I am really Jones'n for the chatroom. What is the next step to solve this problem?

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 01, 2001.

OK, the chatroom was open again at 7 am EST. I went in, aired it out and fluffed the cushions. See some of you there later today, perhaps.

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 01, 2001.

Oxy, I still can't get it to load without getting the connection failed error message, maybe later?

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 01, 2001.

Now I can't either, Capn. I assure you I did not lock the door behind me when I left. Does anyone have a Plan B ??

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 01, 2001.

Weird. Check it out! Using The Cloak in the threaded format, my reply goes directly to the post I'm responding to, instead of at the bottom of the page. I'm back to un-anonymized now. Regarding chat room, here's what might be a good alternative. http://www.startchatting.com. Very easy to use, and you can set up a private or public password chat room, or non-password private or public. I have one there that's private, but not password protected, if you want to check it out. http://www.startchatt ing.com/fff/tryitout

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 01, 2001.

When you click on the link, click on "private chat" at the top of the screen, and you go to the chat screen where no user info is required. Just start posting. Y'all may not feel comfortable with a room I started, since you don't know me. My feelings won't be hurt if you want to start your own at startchatting.com :-)

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 01, 2001.

Just,

What do you mean by threaded format? Your post seemes to have landed in the right spot, unless I'm missin' sumpin'? There are different settings that you can use with The Cloak, maybe that's the rub.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 01, 2001.


capn, look up the screen a ways. There's a reply from me to you, with a big, bold headline (Cloak ain't workin for me). That's where it fell, instead of at the bottom of the screen.

Threaded format shows in frames. All the individual replies to a thread show up as their own hyperlinked threads. You have to click on each reply to see it.

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 01, 2001.


I see now.What browser are you using and did you read the FAQ on the Cloak site? I'm running Netscape no probs.Use your back button and see how that works.I still don't understand "threaded format", I've never seen it in my uses.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 01, 2001.

Just,

I got the error message when I tried to go straight from Cloak to here but when I go through Greenspun.com it comes up clean, only difference is you have to re-enter your Email addy and name.Hope that helps.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 01, 2001.


BTW, I'm posting under cloak right now.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 01, 2001.

capn, I can't get logged in here with The Cloak now. I use IE. Maybe it doesn't like that.

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 01, 2001.

Maybe it doesn't like YOU.

-- (it's@only.me), December 01, 2001.

Yeah, that's entirely possible. Can't please all the people all the time.

-- (just an@anonymous.one), December 01, 2001.

Well, supposedly it didn't like Netscape and I was gonna have to jump through a dozrn hoops to be compatible but I just let'er rip and I cruised right along.

Look at the settings, esp Java and Java script.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), December 01, 2001.


Just,

I am still having trouble getting into homestead.com chatroom where some of us have chatted this week, but I was able to access your "try it out" chatroom through your link instructions.

It made me a guest and had some pretty blue carpeting, but was vacant at the time. I may use it as a place to do my math homework while I am waiting for someone else to show up.

Thanks for the hospitality.

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 01, 2001.


Chat

No registration or password is needed. Just sign in as guest. To chat, click under "chatters". Have fun.

-- (CEL@everyone.net), December 01, 2001.


Thanks CEL. We did.

-- Oxy (Oxsys@aol.com), December 02, 2001.

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