hey top cat got a question about "mac address's"

[latimo]

hey top cat latimo here, i got a question that maybe you could help me answer.........


now is it possible for someone to hack into ones system by the mac address alone ?? the board i got has on board lan connection .

is this possible ? i have dsl witha dynamic ip address. i am getting the feeling that the guy i got my board from may be doing some un-nessary ease dropping on me . could be parinoid about it all ( lol !) just wanted some one that has a bit more networking expertise to tell me if this is possible with a honest answer. if it is ....would installing a pci "nic" solve this privacy invasion ?!?!?! or should i go get a appointment with a shrink !

thanks once again for your wisdom. . . . . . .

L.

[Topcat]

Hi again! Long time!

To answer your question, no, that's not very likely. A 'mac' address is an address given to a NIC in the NIC's firmware. This address cannot be changed, as it's part of the firmware of the NIC. Each NIC has a unique MAC address, which is like a fingerprint of the NIC, which a DHCP server, router, switch, or other such network appliance can use to identify your NIC and give it an IP or whatever protocol has been assigned. Since you indicated you have a 'dynamic' IP, this means that your IP will change from time to time. If you have a 'static' IP, this means it does not change. The only way a hacker could single out your system is if he knows your actual IP address. With the MAC address alone, there's really nothing he could do to locate your actual system unless he works for the ISP your DSL connection is on and had access to their servers and routers. If you gave me the MAC address of your NIC, there's absolutely nothing I could do with it to hack your system. You might consider using a firewall utility if you're on a constant Internet connection, this will hinder hacker attacks dramatically!

I hope that helps!

[latimo]

:!: dam that was quick , as soon as i wrote you the message i went researching mac address spoofing on google and thought to check back to see if i got a reply from you !! thanks for being promt.

i got zone alarm pro newest version with xp pro. i was useing the free version of sysgate personal firewall and i stop useing it because i think i got hacked ...of sorts ......funny story,

i had 3 empty folders on my desk top for putting some albums that i was to encode to mp3 format into and for one reason or another i decided not to do it. so..... after a hour of doing other things on my system i was about to go to bed and told my self to go ahead an delete those empty folders in the recycle bin , i did just so ( easy enough right ?)well after i deleted those 3 folders with nothing in them i stayed up a bit later and did other things on my system ( 1 hour to be exact ) and low and behold guess what showed back on my desk top ....one of the empty album folders !!

the thing i like best about sysgate firewall is that it had a graph that showed all in an out going traffic...so after i saw that folder i thought to my self "hmm, maybe the o/s thought it got rid of it " so i deleted it again ,it came back ! 30 times it came back :? so i started looking at sysgate ...and i found out that when i deleted it i looked on the in coming traffic chart and sure enough i could see a " ping" ( guess it was a ping ) and then after that happened the folder magiclly re-appeared back on my desk top ....i thought to my self "some little s.o.b is getting his jollys with me tonight" made me MAD .

sorry to go on like this ........but thanks for your insite on my question and yes i still got the iwill dvd266u-rn board ,soon it will be getting a new home in a shiny new alum. case next month with 512mb of memory and will be back in commision .


L.

p.s. : i guess now would be a good idea to give that shrink a call ! lol !

[RJARRRPCGP]

Sygate Personal Firewall (standard) is a good firewall, at least if you always keep it up to recent date.

You may have gotten cracked because of not getting an updated version of Sygate Personal Firewall (standard).

[Topcat]

Sygate Personal Firewall (standard) is a good firewall, at least if you always keep it up to recent date.

You may have gotten cracked because of not getting an updated version of Sygate Personal Firewall (standard).

Sygate is a nice util. I also recommend Black Ice if you plan to use a software firewall. However, if you have a broadband (cable or DSL) connect, a good way to stop a lot of this is to get a cheap-o Linksys router. They cost around $40.00 and are pretty secure. They're also nice because you can share your connect with multiple computers from behind the firewall.

[latimo]

Howdy all ! just got a e-mail on this thread today.......

i think that i had the upto date version of sygate but i also have an linksys 4 port router mdl# befsr41 but i have not updated the firmware at that point ...so maybe that was the problem with me getting hacked .i have since then updated the firmware on my router and im still useing zone alarm pro and so far , my system / network has remained untouched by the evil forces abroad. software fire walls are good but i think that also like what top cat said useing a dsl router with "nat" ( network address translation) also make sure for a good defence .my neighbors that live across the street from me have charter cable internet service and the modem the use is a RCA brand cable modem (no router functions to it) ...they kept getting hacked into all the time and virus's /hijackers/anything else you can think of they caught ! needless to say i was very tired of fixing their computer all the time so, after building a new computer for them abouta month ago i installed zone alarm pro on the computer and i was shocked on how many attemps the had in a hour's time. i think the total was about 150 - 200 ......the most i have ever had on my network was maybe 2-6 and thats only because other people in the house was logging into their computers an zone alarm was recording the event. not like my neighbors system but zone alarm has kept all of them abay and so far i have not been called to make a house call ( lol ! )

topcat ....hope you had a good 4th this year and shot many of those illegal fireworks off ( at least in georgia they are ) .

talk to you guys later .

best regards ,

Latimo. . . . . .