lxxxii
2.7.08
published on 04/14/06
Vassar Technology Today | Hide your identity from Internet criminals
Matthew Leung 
Assistant Managing Editor
The Internet is not as anonymous as you may think. Few people know that every time you visit a website, you reveal your Internet Protocol (IP) address to the owner of the website. IP addresses are like phone numbers. With your IP address, others can attempt to access your computer. If you do not have a robust firewall, they can can succeed in gaining control over it.
The Internet jack in your dorm room, for example, has a unique IP address. A trace of that IP address will reveal that it belongs to Vassar, but not to a specific person or location. Nonetheless, your IP address is still traceable to you.
One way to protect yourself from having your IP address recorded by websites is to install a firewall. Symantec (symantec.com) is one major software company that sells firewalls. Another way to protect yourself is to hide your IP address. Hiding your IP address is like using an anonymous caller ID feature—the websites you visit will not know your real IP address.
Overall, there are two kinds of protection. The first kind hides your IP address only while visiting websites, and the second kind hides your IP address during all activities on the Internet, including downloading files and streaming videos.
The first kind of protection is relatively cheap (a one-time fee of approximately $30) while the second kind is expensive (a subscription of approximately $100 per year), because this protection can be used with Peer to Peer (P2P) file-sharing connections such as LimeWire. However, using this method to keep the record industry from charging you with illegal activity is not foolproof, as investigators can still trace illegal activity back to the company that provided you with the anonymous connection and the company can identify you.
One company that offers solutions to illegal downloading is Anonymizer (anonymizer.com). Anonymizer encrypts all communications to and from your computer to shield you from the most sophisticated methods of on-line spying. It also includes anti-spam technology that filters out unwanted junk e-mail and blocks pop-up ads. However, such software is never infallible.
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Alumnae/i posters are strongly encouraged to include their class year with their name. The maximum length for comments is approximately 100 words; longer responses should be submitted as letters to the editor to misc@vassar.edu. More information about our letters policy can be found on our Policies page.
