How to Legally Hack
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Secret Agent Mom
How To Amaze Your Friends With Online Tricks
Shhhhh!
Are we alone?
OK, good!
Have you ever wondered about how people do those wild things like hack into government computers? Well I am not going to tell you how to do that, but I am going to tell how to find where emails come from and how to find who actually owns Websites. Don't worry - this isn't hacking and you won't go to jail but you will amaze your kids and friends with your new-found knowledge.
First I will show how to find out where an email actually came from. Did you know that I can send you an email from one address and you will think it came from a different address? Spammers often do this so that you can't track them down. You can! It's easy! Just look at the header information. To find that you have to go into properties. If you use Outlook Express, just open the email and then click on "File" then "Properties". A new window will open and then click on "Details". In this area you will find what ISP (an IP number) the email was actually sent from, who they want to you to reply to and the kind of email program that was used to create the email. You could write back to your friend and tell them to use your favorite email program instead of theirs. They will be mystified that you can tell what program they are using.
What about that IP number? IP stands for Internet Protocol. Each time you go online, you are assigned a number from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). No one else has online has the same number at that time. Once you go offline another person may be assigned that number. If someone traces that number they won't be able to get your name and address unless your ISP gives it out. So when you find this number in an email header or other places, you have to do a trace on it. Try Arin Whois Search. Just enter the IP number like "24.129.92.221". This IP number belongs to a customer of the Roadrunner Network.
Now that you can track down IP numbers and the real information from emails, let's find out who really owns a Website. When someone starts a Website and has a dot-com name, they have to register the name. To find out who registered the name you have to go through a whois. You can do this through Register.com. Just enter the website that you want the know who owns, then when it shows it is registered, then click on the link. Bingo! You will get their name, address, email address, who hosts the domain and their IP numbers.
Now for some real fun! Have you ever wondered where the packets of data go that leave your computer and travel to another? Let's say you want to know where the server (where the files are) to Internet Family Fun is and where the information travels back and forth from your computer to the server. Go to "Start" then "All Programs", then "Accessories", then "Command Prompt" (note:the program may be located in a different spot on different operating systems). Next to the C:\Documents and Settings\name> type in "tracert internetfamilyfun.com" (without the quotation marks). This will trace the route the information takes to get from your computer to Internet Family Fun. The first hop that has an IP number is the IP number that you are using right now. To exit from the command prompt window, type in "exit" (without the quotation marks) or just close the window.
Now that you can wow your friends, just remember not to get carried away and take it to the next step where you actually hack into other people's computers. I know you won't.
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