IRC! Is it safe?

Hello everybody! I got a quick question. Is it safe to talk on IRC? What are the risk involved? Is there a way to pervent any of the risk? Sorry. I guess that is more than one question. If anybody could get back at me i would appreciate it.

The main risk of IRC besides getting flamed/kicked/banned would be accepting a DCC file transfer and somehow getting infected with a virus or trojan. Basic precautions such as up to date anti-virus software and a properly configured firewall should remove most average risks.

Nyroca,

Another risk is that in some IRCs you can know the IP addresses of the persons online and there is an enormous risk on that if someone with enough knowledge wants to "hurt" your computer using your IP address.

Take care!!!

Edit: At least do not share your harddisk, just create another folder to share files...

One more thing to be careful of is social engineering. Don't let other users *trick* you into running commands locally. Many IRC NOOBS fall victim to this.

Also, be careful how you share on IRC.

Nyroca, it depends on a couple of things. If you connect thru the AO IRC network, your IP addy is masked, so it isn't available to anyone else. As for the other advice you were given, it's all very good. Don't accept DCC from anyone you don't know really well and trust, and make sure your AV software is up to date. Don't run commands unless YOU know what they do. Don't let someone tell you what it's going to do and run it based on that. Also, I can't tell you the number of times I've seen someone come into IRC and get messed with because they start giving out all kinds of info and asking questions about hacking that aren't welcome. Just remember IRC is like the rest of the internet...when it boils right down to it, you don't have *any* idea who you are talking to, and trusting complete strangers can be dangerous.

On the other hand, IRC is a lot of fun, and you can meet some great people there. Don't be afraid of it, jump right on in. Just use caution and common sense, and you'll be fine.

Deb :cool:

nothing much else to say. just reiterate what was said into a list for you:

IRC basic safety tips

- use a firewall, preferably one thats masks your IP address when possible

- dont accept files from anyone, unless you absolutely trust them and their nick is registered on that server.

- dont use a server someone has told you is unsafe or unreliable

- use a good virus scanner which you update regularly and have it running in the background


remember, what happens on one server does not affect any other server outside that network.

Thank all of you for your advice! I've been putining off IRC for a long time cause of the risk of someone hacking my computer. Hopefully with all this advice i can safely put to use IRC. Thank all of you agian.