host file forum

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by maddawgz, Apr 24, 2012.

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  1. maddawgz

    maddawgz Registered Member

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    I got to this forum chat, they said only way to get in since it went down is enter 208. x xxxxx into ur host file. Im not sure i am comfortable with that is it safe?. Not sure why they cant just fix the forum, instead of members enter that into host file.
     
    maddawgz, Apr 24, 2012
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  2. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Sometimes, the way a website "goes down" is because their DNS service goes bad. Perhaps their DNS servers are under DoS, or, perhaps they have a temporary issue with resolution and are waiting for a DNS update to propagate. We've had times when we were moving DNS services when people who had our IP address in their hosts file had access, and others did not. The main point of course is that this is usually a short term fix to a temporary problem. If the issue is ongoing and they want everyone to hard code some IP address into their hosts file for weeks or months... something is perhaps suspect. After all, why not just register a valid DNS name and be done with it?

    Anyway, getting to a website by a hardcoded IP address to domain name entry in Hosts file is no more or less secure than getting there with a normal, valid DNS resolution. The security is not in the name resolution. It's in the security on your system.

    Short of any more specifics, I can't declare "safe" or "un-safe" but, if there is data there you want to see, turn on your security and have at it.
     
    LowWaterMark, Apr 24, 2012
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  3. maddawgz

    maddawgz Registered Member

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    I guess my question is can anyone get into ur pc this way?? is it safe. Yeah they do need to fix the forum but person is away i think
     
    maddawgz, Apr 24, 2012
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  4. kupo

    kupo Registered Member

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    For me, it's safe (unless of course you are being trick). By doing that, you can even access the forum faster because you will no longer do a DNS lookup for that site.
     
    kupo, Apr 24, 2012
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  5. maddawgz

    maddawgz Registered Member

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    Being trick?
     
    maddawgz, Apr 24, 2012
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  6. kupo

    kupo Registered Member

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    What I mean is that, the IP address that you entered is not really for the domain you are looking for. :D
     
    kupo, Apr 24, 2012
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  7. maddawgz

    maddawgz Registered Member

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    oh no it its a website forum, just i wanted to know if it's safe really. As far as nobody can hack u since i dont know much about host. Not sure why they cannot fix it without having to enter it into there.
     
    maddawgz, Apr 24, 2012
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