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| Home Front: Politix |
| Visiting Hotair.com gets you pinged by CIA |
| 2009-06-11 |
| I installed a fun bit of programming lately, which tells me who is pinging my computer when I go various places and blocks them if I don't wish them to do it. And one thing I noticed every time I loaded the Hotair.com page is that I get pinged by the Central Intelligence Agency. Now, I have no way of verifying it's actually them and honestly it seems a bit silly of them to try and monitor something that way. And when I do a search on their IP 198.81.129.100, it does seem to match the CIA's own website. I was astounded however to find that apparently Rantburg is not being monitored by the CIA. Perhaps it's not well known enough yet? Yet another fun bit of news to add to an already depressing day. |
| Posted by:Silentbrick |
| #20 Admit it Silentbrick, this is all just an elaborate setup to avoid explaining the Russian pr0n bill on the credit card. :p |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2009-06-11 23:36 |
| #19 I can let ya have some silentbrick. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2009-06-11 19:08 |
| #18 While I haven't been interviewed, I HAVE already passed 2 background checks to buy rifles through the DCM programs and of course, passed my background check for my carry permit. Heck, it was fun going to the police station and asking to be fingerprinted for my paperwork on the first DCM rifle I bought. The officer who fingerprinted me told me that the best ink remover was moonshine but the chief refused to let them use it. So no, I'm not worried about being noticed:p It's just funny to see these sorts of things. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2009-06-11 17:35 |
| #17 If, at some point during your life, you have not been interviewed by a federal agent of some type (FBI, ATF, NCIS, etc.) you really aren't applying youself and need to try harder. |
| Posted by: GORT 2009-06-11 13:09 |
| #16 Now there goes the thread. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-06-11 11:23 |
| #15 For anonymous5089: Playboy Girls of the CIA (NSFW, Duh!) |
| Posted by: ed 2009-06-11 10:58 |
| #14 badanov: The truly strange thing about technology is that it's there when you don't expect it to be, and not there where it should obviously be. The latest incarnation is the "CSI Effect" where, because of a TV show, police departments all over the country were assumed to have high tech laboratories instead of what they actually had, two guys in what used to be a restroom, with some file cabinets, a fax machine and a microscope. If I was getting pinged by cia.gov, the first thing I would guess is that somebody there with an Internet connection on his unclassified only PC, had gotten infected with a rootkit while surfing for p*rn. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-06-11 10:24 |
| #13 I always go to conservative and rightwing blogs, conspiracy online radios, and to pr0n websites. Does this mean the CIA is watching me masturbate? That would be very disturbing, and, yet, strangely arousing. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2009-06-11 10:21 |
| #12 I haven't been to Hotair lately and I got pinged. Spend a lot of time elsewhere and at the Burg. My spyware was removed and the modem blocked but I have dial-up. I contacted the server and they are scanning to find the problem. |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2009-06-11 08:57 |
| #11 Silent, do you use a hardware firewall, such as that comes with a WiFi router? It seems to eliminate the intrusions/garbage getting to the computer. I also run software firewalls, but that comes w/ the antivirus programs. I only see pings/attempted intrusions when on dialup (mostly from the ISP) when there is no HW firewall. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-06-11 08:42 |
| #10 My guess is that being part of the federal government the CIA prolly has access to network tools so good, they would bring tears to your eyes... |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-06-11 07:44 |
| #9 On a hunch, I went to the cia web site; it is https://www.cia.gov. Note the s in https. Everyone else here may already have known that, but I didn't and was heartened to see it. Does the https site ping as well? Maybe we should let them know if it does; they might have malware on their server. I am reluctant now to go to http://www.cia.gov to cross check. The famous (mis)quote 'One can't be too rich, too thin, have too much ammo, or be too cautious where you go on the web' applies, methinks. I thought .gov was restricted. The original quote is attributed mainly to 'Babe' Paley. The Duchess of Windsor and Gloria Vanderbilt are also reputed to have used the phrase. FYI, if you care. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2009-06-11 06:41 |
| #8 You're already way out beyond the things I know. The software lists IP's that attempt access to my computer as I move around on the web. That's as much as I know about it really. I suspect that people are simply using such names to make people think it's something legit or the like, hoping to avoid getting blocked or noticed. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2009-06-11 03:35 |
| #7 Is that really a "ping" or are they hosting ads by those organizations and you are seeing traffic relevant to those ads? I will check it out soon with some real network tools. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2009-06-11 02:57 |
| #6 Addendum: The server at the IP posted is running an unknown distro of Linux |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-06-11 01:18 |
| #5 The following websites are also aboard the server of the IP you just posted: bbs.tpxz.com cia.gov dafunks.net dragonraiser.com elktc.org hub.n00bstories.com military-server.net rezistor.com srsbzns.com vene.vunet.org www.canalinformatica.net www.cia.gov www.odci.gov www.xiaochuncnjp.com Now, as a general guideline, nothing, as in zero should be pinging anything from any server unless the server is running automatic scripts with or without the knowledge of the server master/owner. Pinging serves no useful purpose aboard a web server once it is deployed. Pinging is used by some automated malware as a precursor to check for open ports and potential vectors of attack by some classes of bots. In fact pinging is hardly used in modern hacking tools. It is possible to check connectivity and for open ports to any internet node without pinging it at all. |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-06-11 01:16 |
| #4 Just making reservations for the re-education centers and labor camps is all. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to see here. Move along. Have a nice day. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-06-11 01:05 |
| #3 That's entirely possible OldSpook, I don't know a great deal about malware, etc. So far though it's the only place that ping does occur. And since I rarely visit lefty sites, I haven't really checked any. I have seen quite a few interesting pings out of China and former eastern bloc countries though, which I assume to be coming from spambots or things. The funniest so far are the People's Government Office of Mang Mountain District, New York Public Schools, Princess Royal Barracks and Swiss Federal Post and Telephone. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2009-06-11 00:36 |
| #2 ping could be a "web bug" you picked up elsewhere. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-06-11 00:09 |
| #1 That's weird... What about the left sites? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-06-11 00:07 |