No, it is not. Trust me on this one. There is no way for the host on the other end to find the client's MAC address. It is impossible from the explanation I stated above. By the time a packet from your computer arrives at the host, any trace of your computer's MAC address is long gone.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How does a ban recognize you?
- Thread starter harryhood
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No, it is not. Trust me on this one. There is no way for the host on the other end to find the client's MAC address. It is impossible from the explanation I stated above. By the time a packet from your computer arrives at the host, any trace of your computer's MAC address is long gone.
I guess the next logical question would be is it possible for a cookie or flash cookie to put the MAC address into the data portion of the packet?
I never trust anyone who says "trust me" and it is possible to ban the machine. The web host I currently use offers it for site owners who offer bulletin boards. My past host was capable of this as well. I was capable of gathering enormous amounts of data about specific browsers, operating systems, ISPs, hardware information, or whatever else I asked for from visitors to my last web site and had the option of banning based on any or all combinations of the data.
Yes, some of that information such as OS, browser version, hardware, comes from the useragent string passed from the browser. ISP can come from the users IP address. That data can be logged and analyzed. The client MAC address is not transmitted to the host. There may be a way to obtain it using a Java applet or ActiveX control on a website, but not only would this not work on every single browser, said applet would have to be included on each and every page. I hate to sound cocky, but I know how a thing or two about how IP routing works and I have a Cisco certification to prove it.
A cookie can't do it. A quick Google search tells me that Flash can't either but I don't know anything about Flash or how accurate that Google search is. But I don't think Adobe would allow Flash to get that low-level into the system. The MAC address is used by hardware only and nothing on a higher level than your NIC card driver should ever be concerned with it.
No, yg17 is right. That is the way data encapsulation and routing between WANs works. In a standard packet's travels across networks, the MAC address is continually stripped and replaced with the forwarding router's MAC as the source. Unless, of course, everything I have learned about networking the past 10 years or so is wrong. And everything on Cisco's certification tests.
Now then, that doesn't mean that is the only way to get info. Browsers give up a lot of info. I'm not sure about Flash cookies, but it is possible to run a script on the local machine to gather that type of info, but that is bordering on spyware. Then again, you can never tell what kind of crap sites are running on your machine. It always amazes me to pull up NoScript when I go to a new website and see the sheer number of scripts the average site is running.
Thank you for backing me up. I knew I wasn't smoking crack when I was studying Cisco's material
If any browser plugin can get the MAC address, not only is it borderline spyware, it's a huge security issue because there is no need for a browser plugin to get that low level into the system. If it could get deep enough into the OS to get the MAC, I would worry about what other damage it could do. Exploiting a hole to get a MAC seems harmless, but it wouldn't be long until someone is able to use that same exploit to delete system files.
Thank you for backing me up. I knew I wasn't smoking crack when I was studying Cisco's material
If any browser plugin can get the MAC address, not only is it borderline spyware, it's a huge security issue because there is no need for a browser plugin to get that low level into the system. If it could get deep enough into the OS to get the MAC, I would worry about what other damage it could do. Exploiting a hole to get a MAC seems harmless, but it wouldn't be long until someone is able to use that same exploit to delete system files.
Believe me, I think I could be senile in my old age and still be able to recite the OSI model. I knew you were right.
Anyway, as far as a browser plugin going that deep, there is always the gaping security hole known as javascript. Or most Adobe products. And Internet Explorer.
This is why I love Firefox, NoScript, and Better Privacy.All that is why I suspected Flash cookies. They drop in undetected and aren't affected by normal cookie cleaning techniques. I'm no Flash expert, or an expert coder, but I don't think it would be very difficult to set up something like that. Drop a special Flash cookie in, then have the site check said cookie when you go there.
Posting style. I used to be a mod on a vbulletin forum. If you are around long enough, you can pick alters off before they even make their first post.
Onion Routing is how i've always got past those silly little bans.
There is even a program that does it for you.
http://www.torproject.org/
There is even a program that does it for you.
http://www.torproject.org/
What have you tried so far? You've gotten a lot good suggestions, have you tried them all?
Is it possible its your posting content that is getting you banned?
I agree. Do you really want to go back to the site this bad that you are going through this entire process. Move on. I am sure there are plenty of sites that talk or deal in the same content that this one does.
Routers IP address is worthless information to a forum of any type because most routers use the exact same IP numbers like 192.168.1.101 for computers or something like that. The 192.169.x.x are very common.
Your ISP IP banning is what they could use but again that infomation is useless to most websites for banning because ISP give out only Dynamic ISP address to people now days unless you want to pay huge amount of money for a static.
A dynamic ISP address means that from time to time your IP address chances and that can be as often a few times a day or as rare as few months. A friend of mine who host a TS server has to update the IP address for the users every now and then. I have seen this updates go as often as every day for a while to as long between them as 6+ months.
I am a Microsoft certified professional and did some course work with the Cisco network academy, too and there is no "easy" answer to the OP's question. I have also been a techie for ten years and I learned a lot more than just course work.
These issues are far beyond even that and I hope the OP can contact a CISSP or CCIE from a place like www.experts-exchange.com to get a proper answer. Some of the answers here seem a bit rudimentary and may need more information. They could be right one way or the other but it's good to ask a very experienced expert, imho.
These issues are far beyond even that and I hope the OP can contact a CISSP or CCIE from a place like www.experts-exchange.com to get a proper answer. Some of the answers here seem a bit rudimentary and may need more information. They could be right one way or the other but it's good to ask a very experienced expert, imho.
Even if I knew how to get around a ban, I wouldn't help the OP. Why would I? He did something to get banned, and possibly re-registered just to get banned again.
Hey there. I noticed that there is a way to "ban" people by automatically not sending them a new registration code. If they get banned and try to register again the software won't send the code which is needed to be able to post. However, it is connected to a single user account. If you use another account or a guest account it does not work.
But how does it work? Even if I reset Safari (everything except passwords), get a new IP and delete all flash cookies in
Any ideas? Is there a software addon available for forums which can create some sort of hash-code out of the data that is transferred by the browser? (like OS, language, screen resolution etc...)?
Any ideas?
But how does it work? Even if I reset Safari (everything except passwords), get a new IP and delete all flash cookies in
it still won't let me register properly.
Any ideas? Is there a software addon available for forums which can create some sort of hash-code out of the data that is transferred by the browser? (like OS, language, screen resolution etc...)?
Any ideas?
You're banned. The site you were banned from doesn't want you back. Learn to deal with it.
They could also use the mess of stuff your browser sends like fonts and version numbers.
https://panopticlick.eff.org/
https://panopticlick.eff.org/
Wow, that's a lot of data which kind of makes my browser unique (all the plugins etc.) Thanks, that might be it.
Why? I was banned for some stupid reason and I really like that website!
Oh hell this thread came back LOL I started a new web site to throw my art back out there and once again. Part of the package deal with this provider is tracking my potential customers every move just like the rest always did....nice addition though is the direct IP banning tool these guys provide me
Sure. Easy. Sony has their own proprietary protocol. When the PS3 comes online, it sends a message to Sony that says "My MAC is blah. Am I banned?" And Sony will reply back and say if it is or isn't. And if you do something on your PS3 to get banned, it will send a message to Sony saying "My MAC is blah. Ban me for I have done something stupid"
That is all in the data portion of the packet, what is commonly referred to as a payload. You can put whatever the hell you want in a payload packet and it won't be changed en route to the destination (hopefully, if it is, there's a huge security breach somewhere, but that's another subject).
HTTP, the protocol used for web browsing, and TBH, just about every other protocol out there, does not include MAC addresses in the payload. There are sections in the packet for source and destination MACs, and those are what's changed each time it goes through a router.
Here's basically what a packet looks like visualized:
The only part of the packet that is untouched is what's inside the blue box (and the green box, encapsulated in the IP segment of the packet). The stuff outside the blue box is changed each hop.
When you first send a request, the source MAC is your local computer, and the destination MAC is your router. Your router will then replace the source with its MAC and the destination of the MAC with your modem (or not, if you have an all in one). Then your modem's MAC becomes the source, and your ISP's router becomes the destination. Basically, each router puts its MAC in the source and the next router's MAC in the destination as it makes its way across the internet. By the time it reaches the destination server, the packet's source MAC is their local router.
Sony sends the PS3's MAC address inside the data segment since it's a specific message querying if a MAC is banned. HTTP does not send the MAC along with the request.
wow. interesting read. thanks