Tracking aliases on forums

cepheus

I'm wondering how easy it is to detect aliases on forums nowadays, with dynamic IP addresses, mobile internet and the like. I'm more concerned with trolls on another site rather than this one. Personally I only use one computer and router and don't use mobile internet at all, so presumably I am always identifiable as the same person.

ChiefGrasscutter

If you are on a dynamic IP as most customers will be then every time your connections drops you will get a new IP address.
Note that this does not necessarily mean a re-sync of you router unit.
When BT do overnight maintenance quite often they will cause a drop in the PPP session back to the ISP although your router remains in sync with the exchange....so you will get a new IP address when your connection to the ISP is restored post maintenance.
Hence you may be changing your IP address Ident more often than you realise.

The above does not apply to those who have bought a static IP address from their ISP.

System

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

The above does not apply to those who have bought a static IP address from their ISP.

How can you tell whether you have a static IP?

DevCoder

It's relatively easy (very easy if static ip's are used).

Even with dynamic ip's there are ways, I developed some software called AliasHunter for the OpenTopic and UBB.x forum software. Tihs used artiicial initelligence routines to spot alias accounts based on :-

1. Their IP or IP range
2. Their user details input when registering (DOB is normally a good one to catch)
3. Their grammar and spelling and other mannerisms

The last one was the most complex but also the one that picked up the most aliases. It scanned banned users posts and created a table of their spelling, grammar and any other mannerism (repetitive use of word, unusual words et cetera). It then compared this to newly registered users posts and gave a matching score which could be reviewed by administrators.
Was used in several forums with 250,000+ users with a good degree of success, didn't get around to migrating the code to vBulletin unfortunately though.

battleborn

krisdorey wrote: »

It's relatively easy (very easy if static ip's are used).

Even with dynamic ip's there are ways, I developed some software called AliasHunter for the OpenTopic and UBB.x forum software. Tihs used artiicial initelligence routines to spot alias accounts based on :-

1. Their IP or IP range
2. Their user details input when registering (DOB is normally a good one to catch)
3. Their grammar and spelling and other mannerisms

The last one was the most complex but also the one that picked up the most aliases. It scanned banned users posts and created a table of their spelling, grammar and any other mannerism (repetitive use of word, unusual words et cetera). It then compared this to newly registered users posts and gave a matching score which could be reviewed by administrators.
Was used in several forums with 250,000+ users with a good degree of success, didn't get around to migrating the code to vBulletin unfortunately though.

What was your reasons behind developing this software program?

ChiefGrasscutter

Judi wrote: »

How can you tell whether you have a static IP?

Well currently the best/easiest way is to look at
http://www.whatismyip.com/
If it stays the same forever regardless of whether you switch off the router etc then you have a static IP address.

Unfortunately the business of IP addresses and tracing them is about to get MUCH more complex as the number of them available is running out under the current system.(IPV4 system)

So BT (as an ISP) is starting using CGNAT where a number of customers in effect time share real time a single IP address between them at any one instant...all managed by the ISP's systems.
I have no idea how these "your ip" websites will handle the response to those customers on a CGNAT connection.
Nor do we know what special series of IP blocks BT are going to use for those on CGNAT as the user presumably will no longer see the real IP but the BT intermediate address

Yes the ISP's will be keeping accurate records of who is connected at what point so any hope that by the perverts that they will be able to download the filth and not be traced is a forlorn hope.
Most mobile phone companies already use CGNAT for internet connections from mobiles anyway.
(Yeah we know the solution is the next generation system of IPV6 - but no one wants to take the cost hit on implementing it themselves and having to replace all customers routers - so they are going for the bodge solution of "sharing out" the limited stocks of IPV4 style addresses.)

PS I never supply my real date of birth to any forum.

cepheus

So is it worth me asking a site to check three usernames to examine if they may be one of the same, or is it just too complicated for them? It's not obvious how anyone could know if they can go off to a pub with their iphone. One is even deliberately misspelling words which makes it particularly complicated.

olias

Isn't life too short....?

Olias

DevCoder

battleborn wrote: »

What was your reasons behind developing this software program?

I was (am) a programmer so it was an intellectual challenge, also I was a moderator/admin for SEGA forums where we had a lot of trouble with abusive alias accounts.

debitcardmayhem

cepheus wrote: »

So is it worth me asking a site to check three usernames to examine if they may be one of the same, or is it just too complicated for them? It's not obvious how anyone could know if they can go off to a pub with their iphone. One is even deliberately misspelling words which makes it particularly complicated.

If their(or his/her) posts are aimed at you personally and they are abusive/threatening then you may have some options, otherwise move along. There is a certain person (well ok a cat) impersonating me but that one is the last person you wish to cross
see here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.php?u=2002493 note the similarity to my avatar. Of course that was for a bit of fun when I replied to a thread called "Will you be the last person to post in this thread" hence the new alter ego.