Re: COMPUTER "IP ADDDRESS"
"midge" <midge@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4E39DE4A-D92D-4D86-B0A4-B98C32290D69@microsoft.com...
> when i post a question a statement that 'the IP address of my computer is
> included in the header of the post" is in small print at the bottom of the
> window. what does this mean and can this be a security issue on my
> computer ?
Your IP address is the "place" on the network where your system is currently
connected. It's probably the same as the place you send email from, and the
place you download your porn to. So, giving that out in the header will
probably allow people to associate today's posts with yesterday's posts, or
to say "this poster is the same guy who downloaded the naked dancing pigs
movie from my web site".
As such, it's not a security issue, but it can lead to a privacy issue, in
that there is some ability to associate your posts with other online actions
you may take.
Some flim-flam merchants will claim that "your computer is broadcasting its
IP address" as if that's a significant security risk - that's rather like
saying that your house is broadcasting its postal address. Why, yes, yes, it
is - but that's how the whole system works. Without an address, packets of
data could never return to your system.
Alun.
~~~~
