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Newbie/Basic Questions

Whitelist an IP

Author: J.Dirickson (11 Feb 11 10:34pm)

I've been blocked from accessing battlefront.com website. When I questioned them about this I got an answer:

Rather, the IP you are using 64.113.172.14 is blacklisted by www.projecthoneypot.org as a known source of spam, harvesting or exploits. Please go to their website and whitelist the IP, and you will be able to access our site again after the whitelisting is effective. (If you still can't get in within 24 hours, drop me a mail and I'll doublecheck)

I don't understand this at all. What must I do to clear this issue?

Thanks, John

Re: Whitelist an IP

Author: A.Degives Mas (12 Feb 11 4:06am)

Howdy neighbor (waving from Reno here)

That IP address comes up as dirty. It means that - if CC Com gives out static IPs - you have a problem with at least one computer hooked up to the net. Do a sweep across your computer(s) and clean it/them up thoroughly; ensure with the usual tools and scanners that there's no malware left behind on any system, and then contact the good people at Project Honey Pot with a request to look at your IP address. You'll probably have to sit out some "probation" time anyway, until evidence is clear that that IP is clean again.

If, on the other hand, CC Com has dynamic IP addresses, you should proverbially bang on their door and let them know that they have a problematic customer, and that you are affected negatively by getting the resulting nuisance. Also, refresh ("renew") your IP address, usually something simple like disconnecting the modem for about a minute and then reconnecting it again does the trick. And if CC Com gives you the runaround (i.e. appears to not care about that troublesome IP address) start looking for a good ISP; one that cares equally much about their own customers and the rest of internet users.

Post Edited (12 Feb 11 4:08am)

Re: Whitelist an IP

Author: J.Dirickson (12 Feb 11 8:27am)

Grew up in Reno & Sparks, Northern Nevada will always be home.

If static, I have the problem. I've been running Comodo Internet Security Premium. I will run some checks with Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SuperAntiSpyware and see what comes up. We also have a PS3 connected to the internet. Are there recommendations to better maintain a PS3 or does Sony do a decent job with the built in Operating System?

Re: Whitelist an IP

Author: J.Dirickson (12 Feb 11 9:49am)

Why can't there be one perfect tool?

Comodo scan said all was fine, CHECK.
Malwarebytes found one adaware, removed, CHECK.
SuperAntiSpyware found 663 adaware tracking cookies, removed, CHECK
SuperAntiSpyware found 1 Trojan.Agent/Gen-BanLoad, removed, CHECK

Hopefully all clean now.

Re: Whitelist an IP

Author: A.Degives Mas (12 Feb 11 7:32pm)

Unfortunately, as attack vectors exist in many places, a "universal" scanning / detection / removal tool arguably would be too heavy-handed to be really useful. That's why your security strategy should be tailored to your situation, and arguably necessarily involves the use of several tools side by side.

Spybot - Search & Destroy is quite good. Another tip if you don't have anything else installed, it's actually quite decent: Microsoft Security Essentials. And an often overlooked aspect is keeping your installed software up-to-date. For that, I suggest Secunia Personal Software Inspector (aka Secunia PSI) which is absolutely free for personal use. It's really awesome and simple; it does weekly automated scans and lets you know if/when there's a critical update you need to apply or download (else, it'll suggest to uninstall the insecure / vulnerable program).

All three mentioned are 100% free (as in "free beer") for personal use.

Good luck! :-)