Checking what is being uploaded

[Jason the Eighty Eighth]

hey,

i had an arguement with my roommate after he found out we were (on some internet sessions) uploading more than we are downloading. this is highly unnatural, as on every session which i don't use BitTorrent, my uploads would be around 1/5 of my downloads.

he told me to uninstall BitTorrent (as he is paying for the internet, and BT is installed on his computer) as he is very paranoid of what is being uploaded. there are a lot of his work, assignments and PDFs on the HD which he likes to call "secret", and i fully understand.

so to get BitTorrent back, i have to prove to him that BT is not a spyware and does not upload anything other than the file it is downloading simultaneously. are there any free software that can monitor what is being uploaded on the internet? i was hoping there is a firewall-type program which momitors a few sessions of the internet and takes note of every byte being sent out.

he's really stubborn, i can't pursuade him any more than by showing him what exactly is being sent out. or, is there another method? like preventing his folder from being accessed?

any opinions?

[Hum]

I don't know about all computers, but on Windows XP: Control Panel/Network Connections will show bytes Sent and Received for the time since your computer has been on and connected to the Net. This will include all bytes, not just files downloaded.

Your roomate can protect his secret files by using the Windows encyption feature, and also by putting the personal files in a folder and making that folder Not Shared.

If you wanted to protect MyDocuments for example, go to that folder, right click, choose Sharing and Security from the menu. Make the folder Private.

Edited December 20, 2003 by Hum

[Jason the Eighty Eighth]

i want to know specifically what is being uploaded.

thanks anyway.

[Jason the Eighty Eighth]

  Hum said:

Your roomate can protect his secret files by using the Windows encyption feature, and also by putting the personal files in a folder and making that folder Not Shared.

If you wanted to protect MyDocuments for example, go to that folder, right click, choose Sharing and Security from the menu. Make the folder Private.

how do i know that BitTorrent cannot access his files? perhaps that option prevents me from viewing/accessing/modifying his files, but will it prevent it from being uploaded in the background?

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

Bit Torrent only shares the file(s) you are currently downloading, that is the nature of this particular beast. It is possible that upload is greater than download, depending on how popular the file is and how much of the file everybody has, its difficult for me to explain. Also.

Tell your mate that everything is fine.

[Fredde87]

iris is a snoofing program that monitors all outgoing traffic.. it tells you where it is going what protocol and so one.. get it att webattack.com BT uses port 6881-6999.. port 80 is the http protocol (surfing).. 1863 is msn messenger and 139 is netbios (network).. there is usally a small icon next to the protocol of the common ports that programs uses.. to find out how much the protocol sent click it and look at the info box the the right, it will say bytes in and bytes out...

[Jason the Eighty Eighth]

  BeLGaRaTh said:

Bit Torrent only shares the file(s) you are currently downloading, that is the nature of this particular beast. It is possible that upload is greater than download, depending on how popular the file is and how much of the file everybody has, its difficult for me to explain. Also.

Tell your mate that everything is fine.

really, you wouldn't believe how stubborn he is. i can't explain it to him in words. if i tell him it is okay, he will just say "how do you know?". and if i tell him that the manual says so, he would again, reply with "of course the manual will tell you that everything is fine. how can you trust the manual?"

i understand how BT works and why the uploads can be greater than downloads, but his arguement is simply "how does he know that his files are safe and not being uploaded?"

Edited December 20, 2003 by Jason the Eighty Eighth

[gadean]

why do you care whether or not it's installed on his pc?

[Jason the Eighty Eighth]

  gadean said:

why do you care whether or not it's installed on his pc?

it's his internet, he pays for it.

/idea/ what if i use BT on my computer over the network? can his files still be uploaded? however - the drive which his file are on is shared with my computer, i can access E: (where all our documents are) through this computer.

[Fredde87]

they wouldnt be shared if bt was on his pc either.. only if you choose to upload this files... tell him that it is safe to have BT on your pc...

[aldo]

Tell him to look at the source code.

Also, stop being a leecher and give 1:1 (or at least 0.5:1) back. You'll kill the network otherwise.

[Fredde87]

what i am is saying is that BT is safe... tell him what he wants to hear.. make up a lie like microsoft have confirmed that it is a safe program.. his files wont be stolen through BT, it is impossible so just say something that will make him let you use it..

[Jason the Eighty Eighth]

  aldo said:

Also, stop being a leecher and give 1:1 (or at least 0.5:1) back. You'll kill the network otherwise.

uh, BitTorrent requires you to upload. you can't really download and not upload. in fact, on some days, i am forced to upload 70% and download 30%.

how would i go about taking a look at the source code?

[trix]

look at the official website i think its www.bitcounjer.org/bittorent just do a serch on google and good luck on getting ur BT back ;)

[Fredde87]

it depends on what client you are using.. most clients creator share the source code on their website

[Jason the Eighty Eighth]

ok, i have the source code. does anyone know what i should be looking for, specifically?

[+BudMan MVC]

dude - even if you understood what your looking at, how are you going to prove to your roomy what it says??

Your best best would be to log all packets, using a sniffer - check out ethereal, FREE and it will log every packet to and from your machine. You can then look to see exactly what its sending. But that most likely won't prove anything to him either.

Your best option would be to get your OWN net connection - and let your roomy live in what every conspiracy dreamland he wants to live in ;)

[Jason the Eighty Eighth]

  BudMan said:

dude - even if you understood what your looking at, how are you going to prove to your roomy what it says??

Your best best would be to log all packets, using a sniffer - check out ethereal, FREE and it will log every packet to and from your machine. You can then look to see exactly what its sending. But that most likely won't prove anything to him either.

Your best option would be to get your OWN net connection - and let your roomy live in what every conspiracy dreamland he wants to live in ;)

thanks, i'll check it out. i'm downloading Iris right now, hopefully that will be sufficient.

[MxxCon]

  Fredde87 said:

iris is a snoofing program that monitors all outgoing traffic..

um, you are talking about eEye Iris?

if so it is NOT "a snoofing program".

it is network sniffer. totally different things.

  Quote

hanks, i'll check it out. i'm downloading Iris right now, hopefully that will be sufficient.

you can't download Iris since it's commersial software.

like BudMan said, get Ethereal. it's free and just as powerfull as eEye Iris. however i doubt either you or him will figure out what's going on there and will have proof either way.

look thru bittorrent FAQ and spec docs for explanation of how it works and why it's impossible to upload/download anything but intended content of .torrent file

[Fredde87]

there is a 15 trail of iris... and what is the difference between a sniffer and a snoofing program? :p

[MxxCon]

spoof

  Quote

vi. To capture, alter, and retransmit a communication stream in a way that misleads the recipient. As used by hackers, refers especially to altering TCP/IP packet source addresses or other packet-header data in order to masquerade as a trusted machine. This term has become very widespread and is borderline techspeak.

sniff

  Quote

v.,n. 1. To watch IP packets traversing a local network. Most often in the phrase `packet sniffer', a program for doing same. 2.Synonym for poll.

you still don't see any difference between spoofing and sniffing? :blink:

[Fredde87]

yes now i do i just thought spoof was the same thing as sniff..