I recently inacted a new security policy on my forums, which will make each ip address made with a post viewable by all other members.

Is this a bad idea? I really don't think anybody is going to start attacking other people on my forums, plus, i really don't think any of the visitors of my website have any hacking skills as it is. So, i feel it will just be a nice little feature, that will encourage people to make friends on the board, that way they aren't being attacked by script kiddies.


Is this a bad idea?

Originally posted by ub3r
Is this a bad idea?
Yes.

Giving out such personal info, without prior agreement by the user could land you in a world of trouble.

I dont see any point to showing IPs to everybody, if people wanted everyone to know there Ip they would tell them.

Originally posted by IHSL
Yes.

Giving out such personal info, without prior agreement by the user could land you in a world of trouble.

Not really -- it is not illegal to give out an IP.

Putting that option on is worthless, and poses a security problem. I suggest turning it off.

Originally posted by adminME
Not really -- it is not illegal to give out an IP.
Sorry, where exactly did i say "legal trouble"?

There's a big difference.

If someone posted an unpopular opion and received attacks on their PC because of the post, and they decided to sue the attacker they could easily name you in the lawsuit also for providing the information..

If they would win is another mater but its not generally a good idea to take the chance...

Sorry, where exactly did i say "legal trouble"?

Giving out such personal info, without prior agreement by the user could land you in a world of trouble.

what other trouble is there, that could be associated with the internet?

Originally posted by ub3r
what other trouble is there, that could be associated with the internet?
Well, to start with, what if two members take a disliking to one another? One member may know how, or have access to information on how to use the IP to his advantage.

You also get into the area of personal information being given out, without permission. Tracing an IP isn't exactly hard.

Ok so your saying if I gave you my IP you could get personal information about me?

no dice..

Originally posted by adminME
Ok so your saying if I gave you my IP you could get personal information about me?

no dice..


It can help confirm your location when using other methods of tracking...

Originally posted by adminME
Ok so your saying if I gave you my IP you could get personal information about me?

no dice..
Are you every user on ub3r's forum? if the answer to that is "no" then the question is null and void.

It should at least be optional at least rather than being forced.

Rus

It can help confirm your location when using other methods of tracking...
you can only locate the location he dialed into, or is connected to.

i'm thinking about modifying it further, so that the last octet is x'd out.

So... give us your IP and we will show you just how much one can find out.

My vote is for Bad Idea. If a poster has a wimpy firewall, or none at all I would think you could be liable for him getting hacked by giving out his address.

It's really in poor taste. It may detour people from registering on your forums also.

So, i feel it will just be a nice little feature, that will encourage people to make friends on the board

What makes it a nice feature? Why would it encourage people to make friends?

It's just plain stupid IMO. It's like asking for script kiddies to attempt cracking our own boxes... some kids will just go through all the IPs on a forum.

And what use is an IP to other members, really?

Matt

VERY BAD IDEA!!!

What makes it a nice feature? Why would it encourage people to make friends?

they would be afraid of making enemies.

if you look at most broadband ISP's, they charge extra to have a static ip address, so if a user is going to set an attack out, it will be very difficult, because that user won't know what the person's current ip address is. But, if a user has a static ip address, s/he is going to be paying extra for it, which would probaby be for a server that he is offering to the public, at which point, that user should have adequate protection from hackers in the first place.

but, as for now, i have disabled the feature, but if i were to offer this service, i would only offer viewing of the ip address based on the post, and not any other features on the board (ie: online list) .

Sometimes you come up with the craziest ideas and weirdest responses I've ever seen. Your answer to my question is really way out in left field...

:P

Sometimes you come up with the craziest ideas and weirdest responses I've ever seen. Your answer to my question is really way out in left field...
sorry, i have a learning disability and my mind tends to wander.

It should not be displayed. Only the admins and mods should be able to see IPs.

Originally posted by KimmiKat
It should not be displayed. Only the admins and mods should be able to see IPs.

I only let admins see it.

I think we've all come to concurrance that public IPs are not such a good idea. Your members may think of it as an invasion of their privacy and you may lose visitors. IPs ARE personally IDable information, so be careful who you let see them. Whether you will get into trouble or not, you are probably better off not showing the IPs.

I think we've all come to concurrance that public IPs are not such a good idea. Your members may think of it as an invasion of their privacy and you may lose visitors. IPs ARE personally IDable information, so be careful who you let see them. Whether you will get into trouble or not, you are probably better off not showing the IPs.
I believe all the ip address = personal identification is rubbish. The only thing you are going to learn about someone by seeing their ip address is their isp, and in most extreme cases you will find out where they dial into. You aren't going to get a name, you aren't going to get a phone number, you're not goign to get an address, no matter how many crappy "visual traceroute" programs you use, you're not going to find anything.

If you feel the need to argue your point further, my current ip address 67.243.204.248 the hostname equivilant of that is 1Cust248.tnt20.det5.da.uu.net. I am not worried about my personal privacy, feel free to post whatever information you can find about me, using that data.

And what if I was posting from work (on my lunch hour, of course, lol). Do you think that I would want someone to know where I work?

if you're making alot of money, yes.

tcp 0 1236 67.243.204.250:80 217.209.79.25:4925 FIN_WAIT1

217.209.79.25 - - [18/Dec/2003:19:12:30 -0500] "CONNECT 1.3.3.7:1337 HTTP/1.0" 405 975 "-" "-"


hmm...

Eerily similar to this thread (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16784). :eek2:

Originally posted by ub3r
tcp 0 1236 67.243.204.250:80 217.209.79.25:4925 FIN_WAIT1

217.209.79.25 - - [18/Dec/2003:19:12:30 -0500] "CONNECT 1.3.3.7:1337 HTTP/1.0" 405 975 "-" "-"


hmm...


Its no one that has posted here :D

It's your site... if you don't want to listen to our advice, then do what you want.

Alright Alright.. I'll publicly post my IP address: 127.0.0.1

Scan away kiddies!

lol... very funny

it seems we have the same IP though :stickout:

mikey@monkey[~]% nmap 127.0.0.1

Starting nmap V. 3.00 ( www.insecure.org/nmap/ )
Interesting ports on localhost.localdomain (127.0.0.1):
(The 1596 ports scanned but not shown below are in state: closed)
Port State Service
80/tcp open http
111/tcp open sunrpc
443/tcp open https
631/tcp open ipp
6000/tcp open X11

Nmap run completed -- 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 1 second



*puts on hacker gear*

time to r0x0r!!!


:P

Originally posted by sightz.com
So... give us your IP and we will show you just how much one can find out. I'm not him, but I will tell you my IP is 4.46.72.124 . What can you find out?

I think my IP to be public information. Every website I visit and every program I use knows my IP.

Originally posted by ub3r
sorry, i have a learning disability and my mind tends to wander.

What disability exactly do you have and what treatment are you currently receiving for this complaint.

Originally posted by TheDoctor
What disability exactly do you have and what treatment are you currently receiving for this complaint.

probably ADD... what else

YAUP

When I Pee in public I don't want others to know :D

What disability exactly do you have and what treatment are you currently receiving for this complaint.
first of all, this is none of your business, as you are just a bully whose looking for a way to make me look bad to the wht public.

Second, i'm not sure what learnign disability it is, according to my parents, i was diagnosed with a generic learning disability, where i was just labeled as "learning disabled(ld)" . During school, i was put into special classes, but as of now, i am not taking any medications, or seeking any therapy. I do not have a scanner, but i fyou would like me to take a high resolution photo of the papers, i would be more than happy to show them to you.

probably ADD... what else
nope, not add, although i was tested for that, i did not turn up positive.


Please stop trolling my threads.