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better use MAC address
Authored by: chaosmind on Nov 27, '02 05:36:41PM
This is a good idea, but I question the validity of using something as ephemeral as an IP address.

If someone is smart enough to get around your account password (presumably by hacking root in single-user mode), they're certainly smart enough to change the IP address. And if they're not that smart, then they're just going to wipe the system with a new install, and therefore have an entirely new IP address anyway.

I'd think a better way of tracking your machine would be to keep track of the MAC address of your Ethernet or modem... Unfortunately, I'm not tech-savvy enough to know how to script such a tool. Some use of the 'ifconfig en0' command, perhaps? Just a thought.

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better use MAC address
Authored by: signal15 on Nov 28, '02 02:19:31AM

The point of this IS to see what the ip has changed to, so you can track it down. What would be the point of keeping track of the MAC address? The MAC address never changes, well, unless you decide you want to change it to mess with your cable modem company or something.

In any case, you want two pieces of info, the actual ip of the machine, and the IP where it's coming from (like if it's behind a NAT device of some sort). I came up with an idea like this about 5 or 6 years ago, and I actually wrote a bunch of code for it (for windows). Alas, my hard drive with the code on it died, and I got a job that took up all my time so it never got finished. If anyone has a 3.8GB Quantum fireball w/ a good circuit board on it, I'll buy it from you. :)



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