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List:       isn
Subject:    [ISN] Security -How you get tracked on the 'Net
From:       mea culpa <jericho () DIMENSIONAL ! COM>
Date:       1999-11-07 6:29:00
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From: NWFusion Focus <news@gaeta.itwpub1.com>


Today's Focus: How you get tracked on the 'Net: Part One
--------------------------------------------------------
By Jim Reavis

We currently seem to be in the midst of a Privacy Explosion.  The concerns
over Web site practices, technology developments and government policies
are leading to both a rapid escalation in activism by privacy-rights
advocates and a slew of new market entries into the privacy business.
Before you go into a state of privacy apoplexy, it is important to
understand the many different ways that you are and can be tracked on the
Internet.

MAC address.  The media access control address is the unique number burned
into your network interface card.  Guaranteed uniqueness is something
highly desired by computer programmers. By having a value that they know
will be unique and unchanged on every machine, they can use this value to
simplify programming tasks.  Microsoft was under the gun earlier this year
for using a PC's MAC address to identify the owner of Microsoft Office
documents.  Although pilloried for this and forced to change the code to
prevent this type of identification, it should be noted that this MAC
address feature was partially responsible for apprehending Melissa Virus
creator David Smith.

The MAC address can also be used to auto configure the machine's
networking protocol address.  Novell IPX, for example, has used the MAC
address concatenated with the network segment's address for a very long
time.  The next generation of TCP/IP, IPv6, also has the capability to use
the MAC address as a portion of the TCP/IP address.  The main reason for
using the MAC address as a portion of the protocol address is for ease of
management.  However, the side effect of this capability is an audit trail
that can be difficult to avoid.  Tying the MAC address to TCP/IP
exponentially increases the ability to track a machine's activity, as the
TCP/IP addressed is logged all over the Internet.

IP Logging.  A station's IP address can be captured at several different
places on the Internet.  Web Server log files can be a rich source of
information about the user that is browsing the site.  Among the pieces of
data that can be discovered are browser type and version, operating system
type and version, length of visit, pages requested, and even the previous
site you were at (known as the referring site).

Beyond Web Server logging, your IP address can also be captured within
firewall log files.  While Web server log files will provide information
about legitimate access to Web pages, a firewall will also capture any
attempted access that may be illegitimate, such as port scan attempts from
your machine.  While we all want strong logging to help stop bad guys and
act as a deterrent, many types of attacks can be proxied through a
third-party machine, such as your own.  Being caught in the middle of an
investigation into a hack attempt can happen to you.

ISPs will also regularly log the IP address assigned to you, and when you
log on, as part of RADIUS authentication systems.  These systems have
often been used for billing systems, but the information is often retained
even when you have a flat fee service agreement.

Getting more information from captured IP addresses.  Once someone has
your IP address, it can yield additional information about you from a
query to one of the network address registries.  By using the whois
command, one can tell which company or organization owns your address:

        whois 10.10.10.1@whois.arin.net

10.10.10.1 would be replaced by the specific IP address you are checking.
Arin.net can be replaced by ripe.net for European addresses and apnic.net
for Asia/Pacific addresses.  These queries typically include information
such as your company's mailing address and the network administrator's
contact information.

It is also possible to uncover information about your IP address from DNS.
By using the traceroute command, one can trace the routing path taken from
their node to yours, and might be able to learn the geographic location
you dialed in from.  For ease of management, ISPs like to use DNS to
assign a geographic location to the IP addresses of their equipment, often
down to the city.  So even if you get a different IP address each time,
your address may be traced to your ISP and the location you dialed into.
While that may not necessarily mean you are in the same city, you are not
often likely to purposely dial long distance when a local call will
suffice.

When you surf the Internet, think of your PC as a slug leaving a slime
trail wherever it goes.  Combining the information above with any optional
registration data you fill out at a Web site could leave your personal
information fairly well exposed.  Next week, in part two of this series,
we'll take a look at some of the emerging options to hide your personal
information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOR RELATED LINKS -- Click here for Network World's home page:
http://www.nwfusion.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's easier than ever to spy on workers, Network World, 09/24/99
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/1999/0924private.html

New Web tool tracks online shoppers, Network World, 09/20/99
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/1999/0920genesis.html

U.S. lawmakers hear range of 'Net privacy opinion, Network World,
07/13/99
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/1999/0713debate.html

Archive of Network World Fusion Focus on Security newsletters:
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/sec/

About the author
----------------
Tim Greene is a senior editor at Network World, covering virtual private
networking gear, remote access, core switching and local phone
companies. You can reach him at tgreene@nww.com.

ISN is sponsored by Security-Focus.COM

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