Creepy Site Claims To Reveal Torrenting Histories (iknowwhatyoudownload.com)
Slashdot reader dryriver writes: The highly invasive and possibly Russian owned and operated website IKnowWhatYouDownload.com immediately shows [a] bittorent download history for your IP address when you land on it. What's more, it also [claims to] show the torrenting history of any specific IP address you enter, and also of IP addresses similar to yours, so you can see what others near you -- perhaps the nice neighbours in the house next door -- have downloaded when they thought nobody was looking...
There is also a nasty little "Track Downloads" feature that lets you send a "trick URL" to somebody else. When they click on the URL -- thinking its something cool on Facebook, Twitter or the general internet -- THEY see what they URL promised, but YOU get sent their entire torrenting history, including anything embarrassing or otherwise compromising content they may have downloaded in private... The website appears to offer an API, customized download reports and more to interested parties in the hopes of generating big cash from making other people's torrenting activities public.
It's not clear whether this site is really revealing the information it claims to -- or whether it can filter out the fake IP addresses provided by many downloaders. But putting that aside, it does raise an important question. Is it technologically possible to build a site that tracks and reveals torrenting histories based on IP addresses?
There is also a nasty little "Track Downloads" feature that lets you send a "trick URL" to somebody else. When they click on the URL -- thinking its something cool on Facebook, Twitter or the general internet -- THEY see what they URL promised, but YOU get sent their entire torrenting history, including anything embarrassing or otherwise compromising content they may have downloaded in private... The website appears to offer an API, customized download reports and more to interested parties in the hopes of generating big cash from making other people's torrenting activities public.
It's not clear whether this site is really revealing the information it claims to -- or whether it can filter out the fake IP addresses provided by many downloaders. But putting that aside, it does raise an important question. Is it technologically possible to build a site that tracks and reveals torrenting histories based on IP addresses?
There is also a nasty little "Track Downloads" feature that lets you send a "trick URL" to somebody else. When they click on the URL -- thinking its something cool on Facebook, Twitter or the general internet -- THEY see what they URL promised,
And of course, it delivers malware that because you're trusted to the recipient, they'll infect their PC with, thus introducing a new vector in addition to the compromised ad servers and malware delivered via email...
I very much doubt that the reason this site was created was for the reasons laid-out in the article summary.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Just type in your IP address, why not narrow down their target list.
Here's "my" list: http://iknowwhatyoudownload.co...
Of course, that IP address is just a shared VPN endpoint used by who knows how many people. And sure enough, if you read the site they admit that they can't separate people on shared IPs, behind NAT, on dynamic IPs... So basically 99% of internet users are indistinguishable from each other on their site.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Next thing you know large companies will be tracking your browsing history by leaving 1 pixel images scattered around the Web!
Marsh, Marsha, Marsha!
Wow! This is incredible.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Seems they missed most of them. I imagine it depends on which tracker you use.
No no, it's the Danes.
Most home users have dynamic ip addresses, so it'll just show whatever the person who had your ip address earlier was downloading.
Your neighbor must be better at information security than mine...
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
It doesn't show any of the few torrents I downloaded from home. It doesn't show any of the *many* torrents I downloaded from the dedicated server I rent to do that. Thanks for letting me feel safe :D
downloaded from the most evil torrent sites in the world and that russian website showed that i downloaded nothing
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
I just tried this site, and it did in fact know of one download that I did like a month ago. But I have downloaded several more files since then, and it knew nothing of those.
Also, the other day I came across a similar site which appeared to have even more information about my downloads. But I did not think to bookmark it.
From a technical point of view, it is rather easy: you just set up a fake torrent peer which connects to various trackers and obtains peer lists, without actually receiving anything from them or sending anything to them. All it needs to do is record the IPs of the peers.
This guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inacurate. (from THHGTTG)
It has where I downloaded raspian for a rasp pi, and an Android rom for my phone. I don't think anyone who knows anything about how torrents work would be too surprised to know anyone else downloading it can see all the peers. Might be an eye-opener for people who don't.
It didn't get a single torrent correct even with about 3,000 being seeded from a test IP.
I struggle to find new and interesting things on the internet, but not any more!
The first of my "neighbors" IP addresses led me to Milftoon.com (NSFW, and not linked) which is totally what you think it is.
Knowing everyone else's download history will make it easy to discover new and interesting things to see.
Thanks, iknowwhatyouupload.com! You've saved me so much time.
Good luck with a VPN.
There was a site like this up several years ago called youhavedownloaded.com. There was a big to-do when people started plugging in IPs allocated to record labels and movie studios, and found that those people were pirating tons of shit.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
it's not working, i download TB of torents a month, it shows nothing
Live Electronic Music
For if you want to read a real report on this site. They actually do real journalism by contacting the company who made the site and actually communicating with them!
https://torrentfreak.com/i-know-what-you-downloaded-on-bittorrent-161223/
Can't wait till we learn to carry.
They didn't list any of the ascii "art" I downloaded in high school.
lose != loose
There is not much to see there. It didn't list any downloads for me even though I use public torrent trackers continuously (for legitimate purposes). I live in a large city and the most some of my 'neighbors' had was a music video and some asian tv show, I'm pretty sure there is a LOT of things this thing is missing.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
I have torrented a metric buttloadover the years . and it shows that I dont have anything.
so either the bogeyman of "your ip address is giving you away" is bogus as it disappears rapidly after you stop seeding, or I am a frigging expert at hiding without doing anything at all.
I'm betting that IP addresses disappear rapidly and unless you were torrenting in the past 60 seconds you wont show up.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
1. Put up site claiming to have knowledge of 'illegal' activity by IP
2. Attract those with something to be concerned about who visit to confirm or refute their fears
2a. Bingo, a self-triaged list of targets pops out ready for further investigation.
2b. Sell to MAFIAA
3. Profit!!!
Requiem for the American Dream
I did a "neutral" search - (Russia and IP addresses). The only thing I got was an offer to mask your IP address. Nothing negative. So.. Words are what you use when you want to start a fight with someone. Wars start that way too. Miscommunication, antagonizing, and vilifying are all the first step to start a war. Remember the "Axis of Evil" said by a famous person. Well.. Stuff like that does not make you new friends - it generates hate. This world is like a powder keg right now, and any type of bad words to other countries does not help!
Did not bother to click it; the summary and the many comments saying "it doesn't work" make it sound like the site itself is click bait.
For my IP address, the site says nothing has been downloaded. I know that is not true because I have two teenagers, and they torrent stuff all the time.
Same here
Maybe they use private trackers or a vpn?
IP addresses are not people. Further hundreds of millions of home computers and equipment are vulnerable if not already compromised at any particular moment. Your history of web sites or torrents can be 99.999% true which will make the foolish and senators fearful. But computers can and do function as relays. So they and others can make it seem like you have a fetish for grandma bondage porn.
And this means Russians can be hacked too. Their statement:
AN IP IS NOT PROOF. YOU CAN'T PROVE ANYTHING.
I can only hope that something happens online where someone famous is publicly framed only to be cleared so this point is shoved home in the minds of the lay public.
When did the MPAA move their honeypot to Russia? Did I miss something?
/s
Maybe they use private trackers or a vpn?
They are not that smart.
Maybe it's just an attempt to collect IP addresses of people worried about their torrent activities. Nice way to build a subpoena list for use with ISP threats, demand letters, etc.. I would think someone would write a script to enter tons for IP addresses at random to pollute the stream, so to speak. Personally I have not used a torrent client in a long time, two ISPs (and actual addresses) ago...
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
You haven't been a parent long enough. Did your parents know everything you were screwing with when you were your kid's age..? It's not an issue of "smart", all of us were dumb kids. It's more about sneaky/devious. We all had that in spades... ;)
I told my daughter God would let me in on everything I needed to know. Anything God didn't tell me was because The Almighty preferred to deal with her directly....
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his robes.2Kings22:11
Pollute the stream?? Didn't we just do that by posting it on /.
I have downloaded several linux ISO's in the last few days just to see where things are at with several distros (I don't read reviews until I've actually tried the new versions).
I saw not one link. And I have had a torrent of one kind or another downloading or seeding at least once a week.
Just a little cookie exploit. You delete yours right?
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
I have a bittorrent server for legal Linux and BSD ISOs. It's never been used for anything else. It's had that static IP for 5 years. It reports 10 of my 30 legal ISOs. It also claims I downloaded some porn video and something called "ST_170_TOOL_SO_XML_1.0.0.4.cab".
My guess is the false positives are a scare tactic to get people to buy VPN services. But it's seeded with enough real data to look slightly legitimate.
Is it possible to block tracking using PeerGuardian?
No. PeerGuardian works by blacklisting IPs of known RIAA and MPAA contractors. However, they get new IPs every day.
Maybe it's just an attempt to collect IP addresses of people worried about their torrent activities.
Good luck sorting out the millions of people just curious about what they're doing or who accidentally clicked the link on Slashdot.
By the way, clicking a link won't be sufficient cause for a subpoena.
I told my daughter God would let me in on everything I needed to know.
Why would Lemmy care what your daughter does?
I'm on a static IP and I torrent a lot of current season anime, and the list was EMPTY. I guess I'm just not one of the cool kids.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
It correctly identified both Linux distros I seeded in the last year.
It showed nothing for my IP and yet I regularly torrent various Linux distros. And a few other things.
Baseless threats and unjustified subpoenas along with outright lies are SOP for the people that try to "detect" or recoup damages for "IP abuse". Hell, they've even issued take downs for IP they never owned in the first place. Having a list of numbers is more useful than having nothing, especially if they're willing to make the facts fit their goals.
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
I could have sworn it was Trolltrace.com
Tracking YOUR downloading is not the site's point. The site is attempting to bait you into sending an email to a friend. Your friend trusts you and clicks the link, and bam, your friend is now infected with God knows what.
Uses browser cookies or something.
I put in a static IP of amassive private tracker and it found nothing.
As it happens I have a database that contains the IP addresses of many of my friends since they hit and authenticate with a server of mine. One of these folks is an older teen and has shared their account with their father who I know is not exactly someone I think much of.
Now, most of my friends are either very tech savvy or not tech savvy at all but this guy is just the sort I can see using Torrent software via word of mouth to download who knows what. I caught him cheating on his wife based on computer forensics I did for her and some network traffic tapped on their network at her behest. This guy is no super genius with computers for sure. Sure enough, the IPs of my friends all come up clean with this Russian service except this one guy. I laughed at some of the crap he's apparently been torrenting! You can certainly get a feel for someone's p0rn tastes based upon what they download!
I may have to warn him, gently, but in the meantime I'm laughing my ass off! :-) I can only imagine what would show up if someone input the exit point of a TOR node or of a VPN service!
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
It's not about the ISP providing these guys with the data, it's about them providing it to someone actually investigating copyright infringement.
More than 3/4 of the stuff listed for my IP are things that I've downloaded.
Also I'm certain there was a similar site to this that launched a couple years back, I remember the results from that one were hilariously inaccurate though.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I guess the first people they need to subpoena are the owners of...
127.0.0.1, 192.168.1.10, and 192.168.100.10.
Those crazy guys at "blackhole-2.iana.org / IANA"..... I tell you what..... They have just about EVERY movie ever made in their collection.
Didn't download much during December - consequently only shows a single torrent.
Because my employer is also my ISP and we don't give a shit about American lawyers, these tickets that urge the ISP to warn or punish the user (or forward his details) just get deleted ;-)
Nobody has every presented a court-order.
You get these mails usually only when you download complete seasons of "hot" TV series - or a very new cinema-blockbuster.
Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
Yep. Useless.
This signature has Super Cow Powers
Occamm's razor triumphs again.
Can't prove there is a god?
There isn't one.
Like it or not, absence of evidence is evidence of absence UNTIL such exists.
Or bring on Russell's Teapot!
Must be Texas, balancing it's books by cutting school funding again!
Haha. Yeah, sure there might be a god. But if there is, it sure as fuck has nothing to do with that creepy book made by bronze age goat herders that you lot love so much.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
But it's a lot harder to do if you aren't running the tracker (thus can get a data feed from it.) Basically, you can only track torrents that are known to you, on trackers where you have access (i.e. public trackers.)