Hacker Threat!

[MotownDennis]

I hope someone can help me with a question. Last night I was playing a multiplayer game with four other players. I was doing very well and took the Persians out early. Next on my list was the Americans and I took two of their cities. This player got really pissed and said something like "I've got your IP address - say goodbye to your hard drive!" I'm not really a computer expert so this freaked me out and I dropped out of the game.

My question is this - is this guy full of it? Can he really get my ip address when we are playing a game online? And, if so, can he hack into my system? I was hosting this game.

If someone can do this, it makes me not want to play multiplayer. Geez dude, it's just a game!

[Tre976]

yes if yer hosting the game then he has to connect to u, hence its quite possible he has yer ip address.. dropping out of the game would have done squat since yer still connected to the internet :P try unplugging yer cat5 cable if yer using a cable modem..

and sont be such a wuss next time :P

[Thirgaral]

Getting your ip is no problem... but that won´t help much at all if I´m out to hack someone....
If you´re really scared you should get a firewall or something...
But I´m quite sure it was just empty threats, a real hacker wont be boasting about having someones ip...

what a bad loser he must have been

[Sava]

I agree with Thirgaral. A real hacker isn't going to boast like that. I'm pretty knowledgable about such things and if I really wanted to, could do some mean things to somebody. Unfortunately (or fortunately), hacking from your home isn't terribly easy. You can be traced easily. Also, the percentage of people out there that can do mean things to you is really small. I agree with Tre976, don't be such a wuss. Chances are, this pud was some 13 year old.

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by Sava
I agree with Thirgaral. A real hacker isn't going to boast like that. I'm pretty knowledgable about such things and if I really wanted to, could do some mean things to somebody. Unfortunately (or fortunately), hacking from your home isn't terribly easy. You can be traced easily. Also, the percentage of people out there that can do mean things to you is really small. I agree with Tre976, don't be such a wuss. Chances are, this pud was some 13 year old.

although installing trojans that act as all-port-proxies on other people's boxes helps you not get traces

[bongo]

That is still above what the average 13 year old are capable of.

Just to add some perspective. I live in Norway, one of the most internet-connected countries in the world(top ten in most ratings). Of 4-4.5 millon citizens about 40 have the knowledge and moral(or lack thereof) to pose a real threat to anyone. The number of people that can cause annoyances or minor damage are of course higher. These 40 were referred to as the 'A-team' by a government official in a recent newspaper article. If you keep your system up to date(windows update for most of us), use an updated virus-scanner and use a personal firewall then you're safe for anything but the most dedicated hackers.

[Thirgaral]

Chances are, this pud was some 13 year old.

who said 13 year olds can´t hack??
There was an 11 year old once that did some real serious hacking... it´s the skill not the age...
well, whatever...

I live in Norway, one of the most internet-connected countries in the world(top ten in most ratings).

And we're the number one.

use an updated virus-scanner and use a personal firewall then you're safe for anything but the most dedicated hackers.

dedicated hackers seldom waste their time on "private" PC's so yes, you're rather safe.....

[MattH]

Whenever I'm fealing mean, I'll go over to someones aWhenever I'm feeling mean and someone has forgotten to log off AIM or whatever, I'll pull that prank. I go down the list of names and use a cut+past conversation starting with 'I've got your IP, get offline now!'.


He was probably scared about losing and bluffed. If you are still concerned, download zone alarm personal firewall (free).

[MotownDennis]

Thanks for your comments.

I feel a bit better now. I don't feel like I'm being a wuss about this; I don't know, that's why I asked. I'm not a hardcore computer "geek"

I think you're right - he was a loser or a punk kid and this is his sick idea of a funny joke.

As far as the firewall goes, I thought you couldn't have a firewall up to play PTW online. That was my understanding anyway.

Thanks again,

Mo

[Kuciwalker]

About the trojan thing, I think I could do that in Java... if I understand you right.

[bongo]

MotownDennis , you can use a firewall when you play online games. You just have to make openings in the FW to allow game communications. I believe most games have instructions for which port you need to open to make things work.

Thirgaral , I'VE GOT YOUR IP, GET OFFLINE NOW BEFORE I GIVE YOUR ADDRESS TO DR. NÃ…RTON

[Thirgaral]

Thirgaral , I'VE GOT YOUR IP, GET OFFLINE NOW BEFORE I GIVE YOUR ADDRESS TO DR. NÃ…RTON

Luckily it´s not my own...I´m using my school´s ip

[maciek]

How about a free Firewall, like the one from http://www.agnitum.com or others.

[PLATO]

I have Norton Internet Security 2002. I usually get two to three notices per month that someone has attempted unauthorized access. This is my home PC. I think that hackers may be more common than we would all like to assume

[MattH]

A lot of times the 'intrusion attempt' warnings are just simple port scans. A script kiddie might have a bot scanning ports on a block of IP's. Contrary to popular opinion, most hackers don't waste effort concentrating on one computer (unless it's the RIAA server ). They run a few scripts testing known vunerabilities and then if those fail they move on to the next machine.