|
Posted by on January 15, 2006, 1:30 am
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Does a specific computer have a specific identity regardless of who is
using it and where?
Suppose a person changed ISPs, got a completely new email address from
their new ISP, used a new personal name for it, and didn't put anything
identifying on their email profile, such as a home address or phone
number?
Could someone who was spying before on what this person was doing
online continue spying although the computer has a new ISP and
(supposedly) new user, because the computer itself has some identifying
code embedded in its very vitals?
Does the physical location of the computer matter at all? That is, if
the person moved completely out of the region (which would obviously
result in changing ISPs) but took their same computer, could that same
computer still be traced to them?
Is a Macintosh specifically different in this regard than any other
computer, more easy to identify, less easy, or does this work the same
for all computers?
Thanks for any information on clearing up these questions.
Cori
|
|
Posted by Todd H. on January 15, 2006, 2:15 am
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
cmashieldscapting@hotmail.com writes:
> Does a specific computer have a specific identity regardless of who is
> using it and where?
It depends.
> Suppose a person changed ISPs, got a completely new email address
> from their new ISP, used a new personal name for it, and didn't put
> anything identifying on their email profile, such as a home address
> or phone number?
Assuming their computer is not compromised with a key logger, or
anything that phoned home and tipped an individual snoop off to the
physical machine's new whereabouts, it would be fairly untraceable,
at least by mortals.
> Could someone who was spying before on what this person was doing
> online continue spying although the computer has a new ISP and
> (supposedly) new user, because the computer itself has some
> identifying code embedded in its very vitals?
If the creepy snoop managed to get software onto that computer
unbeknownst to its rightful owner, then all bets are off.
If one wanted to be reasonably certain against being traced to a new
location, purchasing a new computer, or completely reinstalling the
operating system from original media would be the prescription I'd
write.
> Does the physical location of the computer matter at all?
> That is, if the person moved completely out of the region (which
> would obviously result in changing ISPs) but took their same
> computer, could that same computer still be traced to them?
Depends... The biggies for making the move untraceable would be to
change the email address completely, use no identifying information in
the new email addresses, don't leave traces behind in usenet
newsgroups that might identify someone based on writing style or word
choice, or whatever, change the version/type of email/news reader
being used (or use one that's exceedingly common), and completely
reinstall the operating system on the computer to make sure there
isn't any spyware. If you wanted to be very paranoid and rule out the
possibility of a hardware based snooping on the computer itself
somehow... buy a new machine entirely.
Another thing to consider is that there was (and maybe still is)
unique identifiers embedded in Microsoft office documents that
someone very very savvy could use to try to track someone...but that's
getting into the realm of having to have someone as resourceful as
goverment agencies who REALLY want to find someone able to track
taht.
> Is a Macintosh specifically different in this regard than any other
> computer, more easy to identify, less easy, or does this work the
> same for all computers?
Not much difference ultimately.
While macs are designed such that they're perhaps a little harder to
penetrate to begin with, and less pieces are available in terms of
public exploits as a manner to get malicious software onto a system
(such as a keylogger or some program that phoned home periodically).
But that's a moot point, if you're following the advice of
reinstalling the operating system to clear off any rogue bad programs
that might let a very determined and creepy stalker tip off to new
wherabouts.
Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/
|
|
Posted by Lars on January 15, 2006, 3:42 am
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
that every computer has a built in un-chanageble serial number which is
attached to the motherboard.
|
|
Posted by Volker Birk on January 15, 2006, 4:07 am
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
> Does a specific computer have a specific identity regardless of who is
> using it and where?
For PCs: usually not (even the MAC address of the NIC usually can be
changed easily). And this is a good idea.
Some people want to change this, for enforcing what they call DRM:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Computing_Group
But DRM only means, that Microsoft or another TCG member wants to decide,
what you can do with your computer. So this cannot be in your interest at
all.
> Could someone who was spying before on what this person was doing
> online continue spying although the computer has a new ISP and
> (supposedly) new user, because the computer itself has some identifying
> code embedded in its very vitals?
Not, if the computer was not modified (or is a computer, say with a
CPU ID, for example).
> Is a Macintosh specifically different in this regard than any other
> computer, more easy to identify, less easy, or does this work the same
> for all computers?
A Macintosh is not different here.
Yours,
VB.
--
maximum inquementum tum biguttam egresso scribe. meo maximo vestibulo
perlegamentum da. da duo tum maximum conscribementa meis listis. dum listis
decapitamentum damentum nexto fac sic nextum tum novumversum scribe egresso.
lista sic hoc recidementum nextum cis vannementa da listis. cis.
|
|
Posted by Dave on January 15, 2006, 9:33 am
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
> Does a specific computer have a specific identity regardless of who is
> using it and where?
Each will have a MAC address, although I'm not sure if that is passed
around the internet, unless you have some sort of spyware or virus. As
someone else said, that can be changed, but I'm sure the details of how
to do it would depend on the hardware and so might not always be possible.
Sun workstations have a hostid
sparrow /export/home/drkirkby % hostid
80aaf46d
which some software uses (mainly for licensing issues). That can be
changed, but it is a bit risky, since if you get it wrong, you can end
up with a dead system that needs a chip replaced - not a particulary
difficult task as it is socketed on all them I know.
And of course, as someone else mentioned, there is spyware.
If you are really bothered, upgrade Windows to Solaris. I'm not aware of
any viruses for Solaris, and none of the usual winblows exploits will
work. That is not to say a Solaris system can't be compromised, but it
is far more difficult since it is much more secure than winblows. Few
know anything much about it either, which again is to your advantage.
Solaris on x86 (or SPARC hardware for that matter) is a free download,
although it is a large download. There are 4 CDs or a DVD image
http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/
You can buy a CD for a nominal fee from Sun if you can't download it due
to bandwidth limitations. Both 32 and 64-bit is supported on x86. For
SPARC hardware, you *must* have a 64-bit system, but that should not
bother you.
--
Dave K
http://www.southminster-branch-line.org.uk/
Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@domain. Hitting reply will work
for a couple of months only. Later set it manually. The month is
always written in 3 letters (e.g. Jan, not January etc)
|
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Locking/Limiting Internet Access for a Public Computer | March 4, 2005, 10:10 am |
| REVIEW: "Cyber Spying", Ted Fair/Michael Nordfelt/Sandra Ring | August 15, 2005, 3:18 pm |
| Call For Papers: WORLDCOMP'07: conferences in computer science & computer engineering, USA | January 19, 2007, 4:01 am |
| Identity theft | September 24, 2007, 8:55 am |
| Your Identity is Exposed | October 9, 2008, 12:13 pm |
| Identity Management Best Practices | July 14, 2006, 5:16 pm |
| How to Report - Online Frauds, Internet Scams and Phising Emails: -"Web and Internet" - Support & Network Group | March 21, 2006, 7:03 pm |
| Hiding my identity from Word document files | June 12, 2007, 12:02 pm |
| HPSBMA02230 SSRT071436 rev.1 - HP Select Identity, Remote Unauthorized Access | October 11, 2007, 9:20 am |
| HPSBMA02230 SSRT071436 rev.2 - HP Select Identity, Remote Unauthorized Access | October 16, 2007, 2:06 pm |
|
XML site map