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Q: Any hackers/ computer geeks out there?
I have an IT question.
I assume that personal computers have a serial number or ID number of some sort that can be tracked if need be by certain people or groups. If so, when one uses their computer outside of China accessing material/information/websites that would otherwise be highly censored in China. Would they have the means of knowing this or tracking this when you are back in China?
Also, is QQ still censored if you are out of the country and same with the other person you are chatting with? How safe are the documents/pics that are being sent?
I'm not saying i am fearful of being tracked down and hung, they don't do that to everybody, but just don't want my computer being hacked into and messed with......again, they/he/she almost got into my online banking. Geez, i could have lost millions......(of cents).
11 years 16 weeks ago in Web & Technology - China
A little bit paranoid, are we?
Your computer does have a unique MAC number. When online, you are assigned an IP number.
QQ is not censored, but if you are using the QQ downloaded in China (as opposed to QQ International), or Skype from Tom.com...you are in a world of hurt.
Purchase ESET antivirus (or the whole security suite) and install Spybot Search and Destroy. Allowing Spybot to run Tea Timer in the background (neither will slow your system down) will leave you protected from everything.
Yes, Every Computer has a manufacturing serial number, but it has nothing to do with your tracking process.
How any agency tracks e mails and downloading and other things..
First very essential to track any computer..is "The computer must be connected to the internet".
Once you got connected to the internet..then you will automatically assigned a Internet Protocol Address consist of some digits.
This digits are unique to every region in the world.
Once tracker will know your IP Address (it is very easy to know) then he can also know from which part of the world you are working..
and through internet service provider (ISPs) they will track you at the minimum, like..your name and address that you have provided to the internet service provider at the time of taking the connection.
Pogger, The same concept we use in our company but we use software rather than any device,
We have to execute a particular software on our office computer devices like Tablet or Laptop or Desktop for one time, (I think in the execution it do the same work that you have mentioned in your answer like capturing IDs)
after execution we have to give some details like name, e mail Id etc..
once we click the submit button..our device become trackable..and start receiving mails on regular basis (we have to put our preference..like after every hour or when location is change..etc..)
Our management says that they do it because in case of loss they can track our devices..but we all know..they keep watching on data flow - inward and outward..
huh? wtf? as an IT idiot what are we talking about? I live in the PRC; have for many years. Do you mean if I say something negative about Chairman Mao or if I look at photos of young girls in their underwear I will be in danger ?
Ok- let's try it. I despise most Chinese youth. They act like primates.
Come get me. let's try the 1000 Cuts thing~
JungleLife:
Didn't Mao's wife order people to death by 1000 cuts? Somebody once told me so.
Just to reiterate what Pogger said, all electronic devices have unique IDs. This is pretty much how your computer knows the difference between identical items such as USB ports, video cards, etc... It is pretty simple to grab any of these IDs if you know what you are looking for.
However, the main way your actions are tracked online is you IP address. Every computer that connects to the internet is given a unique IP address that is very easily tracked. For example, every time you access this website (or any other) the following information is automatically logged:
IP Address
Date
Time
Where you came from (other page or website)
How you found this website (type in the name directly of followed link)
Search words to find this website, if any.
Your operating system
Screen resolution
Browser type
Where you went (what website you exited to)
etc...
From this info, you can already see that it is quite easy to know who you are, where you are and how you got here and where you went.
And if you are using a VPN, then it is just a matter of making the VPN provider tell them who was using that particular IP address at that time and date. If the matter is serious enough or the requester is powerful enough then even that information is easy to get.
This is not paranoia stuff, this is just technological fact. Everything you do on the internet is tracked. Don't think for a moment that it is not.
Now... Whether all that information gathered on you is worth paying attention to, that is another matter. Governments (especially China) have huge numbers of computers that sift through all this data for keywords and patterns. If a pattern trips enough red flags, it is passed on to real people. Otherwise, it is ignored. But it is all stored.
China has some of the best government sponsored hackers in the world (second only to the US). But those hackers only go after big fish. The obvious stuff you can see and track is done by the low level hackers who aren't good enough for the big leagues.
The good hackers focus on government & high-level industrial targets. Every country does this to one level or another. That is how they get most of their intel on world events. Heck, even a lot of the bigger corporations do it for various reasons.
Welcome to the digital age kiddos. Check your privacy at the door.
wildcat77:
Very good and detailed explanation. I am not an expert in computers, but I believe Newton's third law of motion applies to almost every thing (FOR EVERY ACTION THERE IS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTION). internet vs hacking, fighter jets vs SAM, radar vs stealth fighter jets, and the list goes on. So I think whoever believes they can do whatever they want without being watched in this digital age is simply silly.
Xpat.John:
Pogger, you are right, you can spoof a lot of the log level data pretty easily. My comments were aimed more at the base to intermediate level users.
And for tracking where you go, I meant more exit links not for typing in a URL or picking a stored URL.
I still remember the days of the early internet where if you went into a chat room and typed "ATH0" it would disconnect 90% of the people since they were using dial-up modems. (I am SO old that my first internet connection was through a 110 baud acoustic modem. And yes, that is 110 not 110k.)
Wow, that's a lot of technical stuff here but the end game is that you can be tracked which I think we all know. So can I ask? Is the expat section of echinacities specifically set up to catch dissident foreigners, identify us and then veto any future visa applications? Should we stop venting the spleen about life in China? 3 cheers for Mao I say.....for he's a jolly good.........now can I stay another year? Pleeeeeassssse!
