Can you truly be anonymous online?<\/p>\n
By Vishnu K. Mahmud<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Some time ago, an Internet portal received a
\ncomplaint about one of it's classified ad features. It seems that
\nsomeone had posted an advertisement selling an item for a very
\nlow price. They left contact numbers for the office, home and
\npersonal cellular phone of a third person, who knew nothing about
\nthe ad.<\/p>\n
Of course, the surprised party was inundated by telephone
\ncalls from prospective buyers. It was not a pleasant experience.<\/p>\n
The joker who planted this fake ad thought that the Internet
\nprovided a clandestine cover for his illegal activities and was
\ntherefore immune to prosecution. There were no laws covering such
\nforms of harassment in cyberspace, or so he thought.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for him, the online portal was unhappy (to say
\nthe least) about someone using their facilities in an unethical,
\nif not illegal, manner. The victim felt threatened and harassed
\nusing technology that the company had spent months creating.
\nThey tracked down the offending advertisement, took it off the
\nnet and scoured their server logs.<\/p>\n
Not only did they find the time and date of placement of the
\noffending ad, but also the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the
\nuser who posted it. Since everyone has a unique IP number online,
\nthe suspect was traced to a local Internet Service Provider who
\nthen tracked down the user based on their internal logs.<\/p>\n
The victim filed a police report, the portal assisted in
\ntracking down the suspect and the ISP provided the evidence.
\nLet's just say that the suspected user is feeling ill at ease
\nusing the Internet right now.<\/p>\n
Many people believe that cyberspace is an anonymous medium
\nperfectly suited to conducting activities they would never dream
\nof doing in real life. Writing offensive letters, harassing
\npeople anonymously or cracking into web sites and network systems
\nare just a few activities its users think they can get away with.<\/p>\n
A majority of them do not realize that, no matter what they
\ndo, a record exists documenting their actions. Whenever you type
\nin an Internet address, say www.yahoo.com, your ISP server will
\npass on that request to the yahoo server.<\/p>\n
You are, after all, logged into your ISP network to connect to
\nthe Internet and therefore subject to their network security
\nprotocols. Thus, a log of your IP number, request, time and date
\ncould be stored somewhere by the ISP.<\/p>\n
Then there are the web crackers (not \"hackers\" as they are
\ncommonly called) who revel in the opportunity to sneak into
\nsomeone's system or cause general chaos. With the aid of free
\nprograms readily available online, they can wreak havoc on other
\npeople's computers, networks or servers, based on the victim's
\nunique IP address that can be easily discovered.<\/p>\n
If the victim is dim-witted, the cracker may have even
\ninstalled a virus or Trojan horse program giving him total access
\nto their quarry's network.<\/p>\n
But can they be tracked down? With the appropriate software
\nand know how, it is possible. Every connection leaves a trace,
\nwhich is why the first thing a cracker does is erase the server
\nlog. If they can find it. If a Trojan horse program is found, it
\ncan be hacked to find out who wrote it and how it works. From
\nthere, standard detective work and some forensic science can
\nhelp.<\/p>\n
Should we be concerned? Not really. There are hundreds if not
\nthousands of people who access the Internet every hour. Each ISP
\nwill only have a finite amount of space to save their server logs
\nand, so, are more likely to erase records after a set number of
\ndays.<\/p>\n
In addition, each ISP has regulations to prevent abuse by its
\nusers and employees. It all comes down to trust. After all, you
\ntrust the waiter at the restaurant when you pay with a credit
\ncard, right?<\/p>\n
What about security in Internet shopping? Most online stores
\nuse Secure Sockets Layer software, which encrypts user
\ninformation at both ends (our side and the server's) and cannot
\nbe read by any other person or server as it travels over the
\nInternet.<\/p>\n
Again, each shopping site has it's own policies to deal with
\nuser privacy and it is best to read through them. Just make sure
\nthey don't sell your name and address to youmustwantthis.com and
\nother spammers.<\/p>\n
How can you truly be anonymous online? Thinking about using a
\ncellular phone with a pre-paid phone card? It's expensive and
\nradio triangulation can track down your physical location.<\/p>\n
What about satellite Internet access? You would need an up to
\ndate paid net account. Thinking about using warnet and other
\ncyber cafes? Witnesses there may remember you and privacy is a
\npremium in some small shops preventing you from doing your deed.<\/p>\n
There are a few ways to become invisible online but you would
\nneed some technical and programming knowledge. And even then,
\nwith the continuous progress of technology, you can never be
\ntruly sure if you are indeed concealed.<\/p>\n
It all comes down to a matter of trust. However, I always
\nfollow the wise words of my ex-boss at the Four Seasons: \"Trust
\nis good. Control is better.\"<\/p>\n
The writer is a Web Technology Consultant for a major e-solutions
\nprovider. vmahmud@id.mweb.com<\/p>",
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