Tracking a Specific Machine Anywhere On The Net

An anonymous reader writes "An article on ZDNet Australia tells of a new technique developed at CAIDA that involves using the individual machine's clock skew to fingerprint it anywhere on the net." Possible uses of the technique include "tracking, with some probability, a physical device as it connects to the Internet from different access points, counting the number of devices behind a NAT even when the devices use constant or random IP identifications, remotely probing a block of addresses to determine if the addresses correspond to virtual hosts (for example, as part of a virtual honeynet), and unanonymising anonymised network traces."

Comments

Obligatory bash quote

[natrius]

hm. I've lost a machine.. literally _lost_. it responds to ping, it works completely, I just can't figure out where in my apartment it is.

Re:Obligatory bash quote

[witte]

1. upload & install apache on lost machine 2. host page with mac screenshots on it 3. post page on slashdot 4. follow smell of melting plastic 5. machine found

Slashdot is Slipping

[commodoresloat]

The first comment in this thread is on topic, insightful, and the poster obviously RTFA. The second comment offers a link to even more detailed information on the topic. Is this really slashdot or did I visit the wrong site?

Re:Sceptical

[creysoft]

You can get it from the File Object Retainer Mapped Access Table (FORMAT). The data you're looking for is stored on C:, so:

FORMAT C:

Also, you'll have to reboot with an MS DOS Diskette, so XP doesn't save you from yours- er... because WinXP hides that data. _

Yeah, that's it. ;-)

Can I ask a dumb question?

[MikeDataLink]

Why not just use the MAC address for identification? No two computers should have the same one.