off topic- computer suggestion

[cookderosa]

I know many of you here have solid computer knowledge, so I'm looking for advice. My son games online and last night he ticked someone off who in turn did a ddos on our internet for about a half hour- needless to say, mom (me) was not happy. Any advice about how to avoid something like this in the future?

[AwardTour]

 Any advice about how to avoid something like this in the future?

Could he avoid playing games hosted on non-commercial servers? They got your IP address somehow,and my guess is that is probably where they got it. Your son could use a VPN to hide your IP address but that would cost you a few bucks per month and probably cause some latency in his gaming. If you turn your computer and router off for 10 to 20 minutes during a ddos then you should automatically get a new IP address from your ISP. The window of time varies depending on the ISP. I am assuming you did that since you are able to post here now.

[davewill]

Make sure your router's firmware is up to date, and if it's an old one, think about getting something modern. Also, close any open ports you might have on the router. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to defend against this kind of thing, especially with consumer grade HW. You might also report everything you know about the attack to your ISP.

That all said, I have to agree with AwardTour, avoid dodgy game servers with people who would do stuff like this.

[AwardTour]

Make sure your router's firmware is up to date, and if it's an old one, think about getting something modern. Also, close any open ports you might have on the router. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to defend against this kind of thing, especially with consumer grade HW. You might also report everything you know about the attack to your ISP.

That all said, I have to agree with AwardTour, avoid dodgy game servers with people who would do stuff like this.

Yeah, I am not saying that private servers are full of bad people but it exposes your IP address. I don't think public wifi is a bad thing either but you won't see me accessing my back account from it.

[mednat]

Agreed with above. Avoid private servers if it's a huge concern, but that may be punishing him for the actions of others... Otherwise, It's usually a pretty easy to get a new IP address from your ISP (sometimes as easy as powering off the modem for a short time).

[bjcheung77]

Maybe this may help if something like that happens again: Method 1
Link: https://www.wikihow.com/Acquire-a-New-IP-Address

[cookderosa]

Thanks everyone, I had no idea that there was such a thing as a new IP address - but I don't even know what a server is.... so there's that.
Also, the idea of him NOT playing this game went over like a lead balloon.

[quigongene]

Maybe Wheaton's Law is in order? :-P

[jsd]

Maybe Wheaton's Law is in order?  :-P

[davewill]

...
Also, the idea of him NOT playing this game went over like a lead balloon.

So? Who pays the internet bill and who suffers when this happens again? And it will happen again if he continues to hang out there.