IP Address Ban for Hackers

[Zerophius]

Would it be possible to IP address ban someone for hacking? It would make more trouble for the hackers instead of just banning accounts and stuff. Any input peeps?

[Spawn of Totoro]

IP ban won't work. Most people have a dynamip IP address that gets recycled among a block of people. There IP will change by resetting the modem or just waiting a month or so for it to change. That isn't including people who use a VPN to change and/or hide their IP address.

All you would be doing is blocking the IP of the next legit user who gets it.

[Fact_Sphere]

I don't think so. As far as I understand it not all people have a static IP. (Edit Totoro is right, IPs are dynamic. Some people pay for static IPs due to running a server etc.)

An IP is assigned by your ISP when you use an internet connection and it open to change. There are people who have static IPs, of course. Failing that people will just IP spoof. It's not hard to do. Yes it's against terms of service but then they probably don't care about that kind of thing because they cheat.

I could be wrong... I am not 'tech savvy' I just live with someone who is.

[Zerophius]

I wasn't thinking of that...good point. But if there was a way to ban the computer id number somehow they would think again about hacking...just imagine if they had to buy a whole new computer instead of just a new game and make a new acct...lol

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by ZEROPHIUS:

I wasn't thinking of that...good point. But if there was a way to ban the computer id number somehow they would think again about hacking...just imagine if they had to buy a whole new computer instead of just a new game and make a new acct...lol

Any number coming from a computer can be changed, blocked from showing or spoofed.

Intel wanted to put a unique ID built into the processor, but it got scrapped due to how ineffective it was as well as privacy concerns.

The only way is the way Valve does it by blocking the SteamID and the cd-key and those are per a game and not per an account.

[aiusepsi]

As a sidebar, you can spoof an IP, but not if you want to be playing online games. If you spoof the IP when connecting to a game server, the server's replies will get delivered to another computer. This makes it slightly tricky to play.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by aiusepsi:

As a sidebar, you can spoof an IP, but not if you want to be playing online games. If you spoof the IP when connecting to a game server, the server's replies will get delivered to another computer. This makes it slightly tricky to play.

Using a VPN would allow it to work though. Information sent to that IP gets redirected by the VPN service to the correct IP.

Other identifying numbers can be spoofed though.

[Bucket]

I think (I may be wrong here) You guys are confusing a specific computers IP address to the one of your router, which is what would be banned with an IP ban. Or atleast that's what I was taught, they tend not to be as flexible.

[Zerophius]

Originally posted by Bucket-Rah:

I think (I may be wrong here) You guys are confusing a specific computers IP address to the one of your router, which is what would be banned with an IP ban. Or atleast that's what I was taught, they tend not to be as flexible.

see that is what i'm saying (i think i am)...i mean a way to block the computer from using steam (or such) if they are caught cheating...if they knew they could not get on steam again with that computer....would they risk it????.....i wouldn't...

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Bucket-Rah:

I think (I may be wrong here) You guys are confusing a specific computers IP address to the one of your router, which is what would be banned with an IP ban. Or atleast that's what I was taught, they tend not to be as flexible.

The router IP is internal. The modem's IP is the one that would get banned, and those tend to be dynamic.

You can set your router to assign an static IP all you want, and change it just as often.

ISPs charge extra for a static IP so people will know if they have a static or not.

Nope, not confused at all. A computer doesn't have a build in IP address. The network card has a MAC address, but that is easy to change.

And it is the modem's IP (assigned by the ISP) that would get banned, not the router.

Originally posted by ZEROPHIUS:

see that is what i'm saying (i think i am)...i mean a way to block the computer from using steam (or such) if they are caught cheating...if they knew they could not get on steam again with that computer....would they risk it????.....i wouldn't...

I understand what you want, but please understand, it doesn't work like that and won't happen.

They won't ban an entire account for cheating, why would they ban an IP for it? Especialy when it would be ineffective to do so and prevent legit users from playing too.

[Zerophius]

well said

[Satoru]

You have to understand that when ARPANET was created, the security of the endpoints wasn't actually something that was relevant. The IP protocol was also designed for maximum transmission success. It takes into account things like packets arriving out of sequence and such. But it always assumed the endpoints were 'verified'. That's why we have to slap on all this weird securiyt ON TOP of TCP/IP. Because the base protocol was never designed to verify endpiotns in any meaningful way.The closed nature of the system was supposed to ensure all endpoints were 'good'.

There are almost no meaningful ways to uniquely identify a home pc that isn't circumventable by a local attacker.

That's why Steam VAC bans by accounts. It's a unique identifier that it KNOWS can authenticate and verify. Effectivley unless all PC users relinquish hardware control and we all get 'console-like PCs' then you could institute hardware bans, just like on the consoles.

But is anyone here really willing to give up that kind of control even if it meant insta-banning cheaters?

I doubt it.