cable modem question

[Dawgy]

i have reason to believe that the company my cable internet is through, has been watching what i do. does anyone know if this is possible? if so, how?

the only other way they could know what i do is maybe to search a domain registry for my phone number or address... all my adult domains are registered under a company name that i dont publicize at all...

i swear theres always someone trying to destroy me. :mad:

[manga]

I know for a fact that the cable company scans all th IPs to see what its customers are doing. Just setup a firewall and block their IP and they won't see you. Also, don't go through their proxy when you are online. It sets up like that by default so if you haven't already done so, get rid of it, because they'll be able to see what you're doing more easily if you go through their proxy. More things you should consider is using encryption as much as possible, get PGP or something like it. You should also phone them and find out the IPs of their mail servers so you can connect to them directly. Again, don't use the default settings they give you. A healthy dose of paranoia goes a long way ;)

[playa]

your just paranoid,,,,

they will find out your no different then 90% of all the internet users,,,
all like to surf for porn :D

[Dawgy]

well thats all well & good, but the damage is done. a family member is close friends with one of the VP's at cox. he apparently told that family member i "traffic pornography"...

my attorney thinks i should sue... someone as high as a VP using company resources to spy on a friend's family member... something about that just doesnt seem legal.

[Much0S]

you probably have a static ip.

if you have a static ip you can be watched easily. If you don't have a static ip you still can be watched, but it's a little bit harder.

Setting off proxy's helps. 'Cause in that case they have to let the router administrator spy on your traffic. router admins are expensive and thus they probably wont do it.

Firewalling is generally a good idea anyways.

If they bring it to the public you can sue their ass- you have your privacy!

[playa]

Originally posted by Dawgy:
<STRONG>well thats all well & good, but the damage is done. a family member is close friends with one of the VP's at cox. he apparently told that family member i "traffic pornography"...

my attorney thinks i should sue... someone as high as a VP using company resources to spy on a friend's family member... something about that just doesnt seem legal.</STRONG>


more like your family member is snooping around on you,,, you got some enemies and someone is out to get you

[SIG357]

I'm on a cable modem too. Can someone give more details on how to set up a firewall to block the IP and how to remove the proxy default? I need a point by point "how to" as I am new to this stuff.

[playa]

just a get a good router,,,

them software firewalls that sit on your PC just slow your computer down

[Amputate Your Head]

Originally posted by Dawgy:
<STRONG>i have reason to believe that the company my cable internet is through, has been watching what i do.</STRONG>
Of course they're watching you. Did you think they weren't? If you were running a massive ISP operation, would you NOT keep an eye on your equipment and how it's being used?

Wake up.

And a router is an excellent idea... but if you're getting it just so your ISP can't see you anymore... think again. Cuz it won't work.

[SIG357]

Thanks Playa and Amp for your insight. Is there a solution for cable modem users Amp?

[Amputate Your Head]

Not really... as far as blocking your ISP anyway... I would run without a hardware firewall, but that's for everyone else. You may be able to hide some things from the ISP, but not everything... there's always a way to check you out. After all, you are going through there systems... and that leaves tracks. Blocking them out, or trying to, may just piss them off, and end up getting your acct cancelled.

Plus, if we're talking about AT&T @Home here... your agreement with them specifically states that you are not authorized to use the service as a server... (if that's the case)... if it's just FTPing stuff up to a host, then they should not have any problem with it.

(If anyone's wondering, I used to work for AT&T @Home as a tech, so I've seen just about every scenario out there)

[SIG357]

I'm just ftp-ing at this point. Thanks again for your help!

[salsbury]

if a VP of Cox really told them that, yes, you should sue. that's a gross violation of privacy. you'd probably win a settlement.

firewalls won't do jack shit about this problem, guys. if they're sniffing, it's somewhere in the cable network, not in the guy's house.

you could set up a proxy client on your local machine, point your browser to that proxy client, and have that proxy client send all traffic over a secure tunnel (via ssh) to a shell account. that'd mean the only place they could sniff your actual traffic would be either on your computer itself (monitoring keystrokes ala FBI, etc) or at your shell account.

it's a lot easier than it sounds if you read up on secure tunnels.

[playa]

Originally posted by Amputate Your Head:
<STRONG>
(If anyone's wondering, I used to work for AT&T @Home as a tech, so I've seen just about every scenario out there)</STRONG>

reminds me when i use to work as telcom tech at a major pop site,,, while checking for static on telephone lines,, we would hear some interesting conversations,,hehe

[SIG357]

Salsbury, thanks for the pointers. I spent the last hour searching for instructions on how to do this but,so far,its all over my head (for sys admins etc). Care to throw me a link that has details even a simpleton can use?

[basschick]

a few years ago, one of my dialup accounts was suddenly terminated with no warning when the owner of the dialup "discovered" that i was working in an immoral industry. he had read enough email to know i wasn't a surfer...

i was told at the time that it was an illegal violation of privacy, but it didn't harm me so i moved on.

[MayorX]

eMM REMINDS ME THE DAYS IN The hate-az District we used to use those Red Ma Bell Linesmen Phones and tap everyones lines and make 900 calls.. this was about 10 years back before the net but was some funny old days.. think it was $2.99 per min back jen for phone sex.....