people(hackers) can flood your server and send pretty harmful viruses and worms through your IP address. but if you have a GOOD fire wall you dont have to worry.
Flood my server? Most people don't have servers. In this context, if someone had a server, there is no difference between a server and a regular workstation. If the connection is flooded, the connection is flooded. And a firewall won't save you, unless the attack is an ICMP flood, which is rarely used anymore because every firewall on the market today will block it. At that point, you can simply release and renew your IP address and the attack is over.
Sending viruses? Most spread through e-mail. IP has nothing to do with it. Worms spread automatically. Yes, they need your IP to find you. But they find it by themselves. Nobody gives it to them.
IP addresses are no big deal. If the forums.nessaholics.com server didn't know your's, it couldn't send you this page. Your computer automatically looks up the address of the server (64.71.177.236). Your computer then tells the server to give you what you want and it tells the server your IP address so it can send the information back to you. It's like a phone number. Yeah, you can be EEEEKKKKK! about people having your phone number. Chill out. It's in the phone book. Nobody is going to hurt you with your phone number.
Please stop spreading misinformation about things you know nothing about. All this misinformation that reads like voodoo is driving me crazy!
William Lewis
Student, Cisco Networking Academy (CCNA)
