If somebody has my IP address can they spy on me?

[slumberland]

Okay. I want to know if I exchange emails with somebody, anybody, then they have my IP address correct?

Well - does that mean they can then somehow spy on all of my internet activity?

I use a macintosh and I don't know anything about this. For argument's sake let's say they were highly motivated to spy on me, would it be possible?

The only person with physical access to my laptop is me. So they would have to spy from afar, using just my IP address. I have no idea what protection or anti-spyware has been installed on my computer...

Thank you to anybody who can help.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by slumberland

Okay. I want to know if I exchange emails with somebody, anybody, then they have my IP address correct?

Well - does that mean they can then somehow spy on all of my internet activity?

I use a macintosh and I don't know anything about this. For argument's sake let's say they were highly motivated to spy on me, would it be possible?

The only person with physical access to my laptop is me. So they would have to spy from afar, using just my IP address. I have no idea what protection or anti-spyware has been installed on my computer...

Thank you to anybody who can help.

The short answer is no they will not be able to spy on you with just the IP address.

[slumberland]

Thank you Gene, thank you very much.

Unfortunately I neglected to mention that along with my email address, they also have my name and physical address as well.

I had very brief contact with this person years ago. Does anybody know if they would they be able to spy on me if they really wanted to?

[Lucidism]

I guess if they really wanted to, sure. They could sneak into your house and install spy software onto your Mac.

But generally, no, they won't be able to see what you do on your Mac.

[slumberland]

Thank you Lucidism,

No, nobody has snuck into my house, that is one thing I know for sure.

But somebody told me that pretty much anybody could spy on anything if they had this information and wanted to use it in this way... so I was alarmed.

[iDreamCatcher]

Originally Posted by slumberland

Okay. I want to know if I exchange emails with somebody, anybody, then they have my IP address correct?

Well - does that mean they can then somehow spy on all of my internet activity?

I use a macintosh and I don't know anything about this. For argument's sake let's say they were highly motivated to spy on me, would it be possible?

The only person with physical access to my laptop is me. So they would have to spy from afar, using just my IP address. I have no idea what protection or anti-spyware has been installed on my computer...

Thank you to anybody who can help.

Mild version: what others say.
Scary version:
Having your IP address at hands they can search google and any other search engines for any occurences of this IP address. Sometimes badly guarded traffic logs of bulletin boards can disclose your identity and they could learn all your posts and interests even though you think you are "anonymous" and using some nickname.
Major service providers, search engines and your trusted internet service provider will happily reveal any logs with your IP address in record under proper pressure and circumstances.
Act of sending email does reveal IP of course. But even the act of receiving email could not only reveal IP, but also the day, time, location and IP of your computer where you are checking your email from. That depends of course - but possible.
Having your IP someone might try to hack either your computer or your router that you use to connect to the internet. Just in case you haven't change the default router's management password since you bought it - is asking for trouble.
The list goes on.....

Gleb

[slumberland]

It is the scary version that I am interested in, the worst case scenario.

So they have my IP address. What can they do exactly? Can they spy on every move I make, or only things that I post (like for example this post here)?

How can I find out what is out there about me, can I spy on myself? Can I find out what they can find out by googling my IP address?

Thank you... I don't want to know but I do need to know.


A few moments later: So they can hack it? What does that mean, that they can spy on my every move? How can I tell if my computer has been hacked and I am being spied on? Is there a way, can I consult with a professional? Thank you to anybody who knows.

[Lucidism]

Read this for more info about IP addresses: What can people tell from my IP address?

For anyone to "hack" your computer in the worst case scenario with just your IP would require a lot of skill that the vast majority of people do not have.

If you are afraid of someone in particular, I'd suggest not communicating with them and reporting it to the authorities if you have received threats.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by slumberland

Okay. I want to know if I exchange emails with somebody, anybody, then they have my IP address correct?

Nope. If you send someone an email, it goes from your computer to your email server. Your email server sends it to the target email server. The other person accesses the target email server with their computer to view the received email. There's no direct communication between your computer and the computer of another individual, when you send an email.

You probably don't even have a single IP address. Do you have a home connection to the internet? Most home connections have a "dynamic" IP address. Your IP address changes every time you connect to your ISPs network.

Originally Posted by slumberland

Well - does that mean they can then somehow spy on all of my internet activity?

Generally, no.

Originally Posted by slumberland

I use a macintosh and I don't know anything about this. For argument's sake let's say they were highly motivated to spy on me, would it be possible?

Seeing what's happening on a computer remotely, over a network, is possible. Network admins control computers on their own network remotely all the time. The software to make it happen must be installed and running. Supposing they had access to your computer, and were able to install software that provided "remote access" capabilities - then yes. It's not likely.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

You probably don't even have a single IP address. Do you have a home connection to the internet? Most home connections have a "dynamic" IP address. Your IP address changes every time you connect to your ISPs network.

Furthering this, if your machine is on a private network created by the router/switch that your ISP gave you - your machine doesn't even have an IP address on the internet. Most people who have home connections are connected through a NAT - a Network Address Translator. The router has a connection to the internet and a connection to the private network it creates. Your machine is connected to the private network. The router handles communication with the internet, and translates addresses to the private network addresses to pass that communication on. Your computer is not even directly accessible to other machines on the internet.

[slumberland]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

The software to make it happen must be installed and running. Supposing they had access to your computer, and were able to install software that provided "remote access" capabilities - then yes. It's not likely.

Thank you so much for your answers, Plays With Life.

Do you mean they would need physical access to my laptop, in order to install this software? I mean, would they need to get my laptop in their hands?

(this is a question for anybody that knows)

[slumberland]

Originally Posted by Lucidism

Read this for more info about IP addresses: What can people tell from my IP address?

For anyone to "hack" your computer in the worst case scenario with just your IP would require a lot of skill that the vast majority of people do not have.

If you are afraid of someone in particular, I'd suggest not communicating with them and reporting it to the authorities if you have received threats.

Thank you very much again Lucidism. I once "Asked Leo" a question and he actually wrote me back. As I explained in the post above it is a very far-fetched concern, no threats and no grounds for approaching authorities whatsoever, but if it were the case then this is what I would recommend as well.

I hate thinking anybody could really hack anybody else's computer. Even if they don't have the skill, if they had money it sounds like they could do it. Is that true? Because if so, that is just creepy.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by slumberland

Thank you so much for your answers, Plays With Life.

Sure thing!

Originally Posted by slumberland

Do you mean they would need physical access to my laptop, in order to install this software? I mean, would they need to get my laptop in their hands?

Yes, I meant physical access.

The possibility does exist to install things remotely. People search for and find vulnerabilities in existing software running on the machine, then exploit those vulnerabilities to install software remotely that gives them some control over the machine. This happens most often on Windows. So far as I know, people don't spend much time searching for these vulnerabilities on Macs or Linux.

Originally Posted by slumberland

I hate thinking anybody could really hack anybody else's computer. Even if they don't have the skill, if they had money it sounds like they could do it. Is that true? Because if so, that is just creepy.

The possibility exists. If you want to eliminate the possibility completely, simply unplug your computer from the internet. If you connect your computer to a network, you're enabling two-way communication with other machines. Like I said above, if you're behind a NAT (likely), your computer is not directly addressable by other machines on the internet. ie, another machine cannot initiate communication with your computer at will. Your computer must initiate the communication. ie, you have to click on something to make it happen. It won't just happen out of the blue.

If you're really concerned about it, look into Norton or some other protection software. It will actively scan everything you install, everything you download and every communication your computer makes. It will prevent anything that seems unexpected or malicious: if you try to install something malicious, it will pop up a dialog box telling you so; if you download something malicious, it will put the download into a "quarantine" space and prevent any access to it (or just outright delete it, depending on how you configure it); and if some piece of software on your machine attempts to initiate communication that you haven't specifically allowed, it will prevent that communication and notify you.

[slumberland]

Thank you so much again, Plays With Life!

I meant to answer sooner. But being so tech-illiterate I thought I should educate myself a bit first. Ahem - it hasn't happened yet.

However, after reading your message I did take a couple of additional precautions... and I do feel better. Merci....

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by slumberland

Thank you so much again, Plays With Life!

I meant to answer sooner. But being so tech-illiterate I thought I should educate myself a bit first. Ahem - it hasn't happened yet.

However, after reading your message I did take a couple of additional precautions... and I do feel better. Merci....

Sure thing, good call and good idea. I'm glad you got something worked out.

[slumberland]

it's great to have this forum, thanks again!

but oh my goodness - this question goes out to anyone...

theoretically, can a person actually access word docs remotely from somebody's computer, if they are connected to the internet???

this is a possibility I hadn't even considered...

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by slumberland

theoretically, can a person actually access word docs remotely from somebody's computer, if they are connected to the internet???

Well, usually - Yes, if they gain control of your computer. When a person hacks into a computer, the first thing they usually do is check out what data is on the machine. "OK, I'm in. Now let's see what's here."

People don't usually hack home machines to get data. They would target something more useful or more interesting, like the internal network at the telephone company. Something that has information they could put to some use - such as in understanding how the phone system works.

When people target home machines, it's usually to create a botnet. ie, they want control over the resources of your machine; they don't really care what data is on it. Some people create destructive viruses as a "status in the community" endeavor. The more significant an impact your virus had, the more respect you can get from other people who create viruses. They kind of play a game to see who can create the "baddest" virus, and to challenge themselves technically.

Some people want control over large numbers of machines. This gives a person computing power they wouldn't otherwise have. Some people target websites and other web services for a "denial of service" attack. They flood the machine with more traffic than it can handle, and the machine becomes inaccessible to other people - the service goes down. Today, services have significantly more capacity than a single machine could overwhelm. So if you want to flood a service to bring it down, you need to have vast numbers of machines under your control. When a person sets up a botnet, they install software on people's home machines (usually home machines) that just sits there and waits for commands from the controller. Every machine becomes a "bot" in the network, and the person who set it up has simultaneous control over the entire group of machines. With several hundred or several thousand machines targeting a single service, the controller can flood the service and bring it down.

ANYWAYS - *ramble ramble*

Bottom line, most people who do this sort of thing wouldn't really care about your data. They would be looking to destroy something, or they'd be looking to leverage your computer's resources. They probably wouldn't even bother opening your files.