The school where my daughter teaches has been plagued recently by a spate of
bomb threats. The threats had been written on bathroom walls and have not
been considered credible, but, nevertheless, they have to evacuate because
they can't take chances.

Today's threat arrived via e-mail. Can they trace it to the PC from which it
was sent, which I'd assume was a public computer, such as in a library?

Could a technology-savvy person create a "From" address that can't be
traced?

Hi Marty,

The best thing to do would be to ask local law enforcement. They can either
help or direct you to the proper authority.

--
Tim K.
aka Kuay Tim
MS-MVP - Outlook Express
Lynnwood, WA
*
"Marty" <mart915@REEMOOVEfrontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:ey1eShT9FHA.4004@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
The school where my daughter teaches has been plagued recently by a spate of
bomb threats. The threats had been written on bathroom walls and have not
been considered credible, but, nevertheless, they have to evacuate because
they can't take chances.

Today's threat arrived via e-mail. Can they trace it to the PC from which it
was sent, which I'd assume was a public computer, such as in a library?

Could a technology-savvy person create a "From" address that can't be
traced?

The email's headers, if available, may give the Authorities an IP to check
but...

Marty wrote:
> The school where my daughter teaches has been plagued recently by a spate
> of
> bomb threats. The threats had been written on bathroom walls and have not
> been considered credible, but, nevertheless, they have to evacuate because
> they can't take chances.
>
> Today's threat arrived via e-mail. Can they trace it to the PC from which
> it
> was sent, which I'd assume was a public computer, such as in a library?
>
> Could a technology-savvy person create a "From" address that can't be
> traced?

"Marty" <mart915@REEMOOVEfrontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:ey1eShT9FHA.4004@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> The school where my daughter teaches has been plagued recently by a spate
of
> bomb threats. The threats had been written on bathroom walls and have not
> been considered credible, but, nevertheless, they have to evacuate because
> they can't take chances.
>
> Today's threat arrived via e-mail. Can they trace it to the PC from which
it
> was sent, which I'd assume was a public computer, such as in a library?

Yes, to within the limits of the savvy of the sender, and anonymous posting
hosts, however the chances are that law enforcement can effect a reasonable
trace given the low level of intelligence it takes to spray graffiti on a
wall.
>
> Could a technology-savvy person create a "From" address that can't be
> traced?
>
>

Yes,

You may be able to trace it to the ISP and give them a "Client" address
which in theory they could trace to a connection, however they may not know
if that was a laptop hooked up for the purpose or whatever.... it would more
or less require someone to physically check the computer that is
legitimately used there.

Simply put if I brought my computer to your house and used your cable modem
the cable company may be able to tell the difference or they may not,
especially if you have a router for a small home network. Of course the ISP
would probably be legally prevented from giving you this info even assuming
they could find it...

All things being as they are I'm afraid your best hope is that at the most
it might give you a clue to the general location.

Charlie

"Marty" <mart915@REEMOOVEfrontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:ey1eShT9FHA.4004@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> The school where my daughter teaches has been plagued recently by a spate
> of bomb threats. The threats had been written on bathroom walls and have
> not been considered credible, but, nevertheless, they have to evacuate
> because they can't take chances.
>
> Today's threat arrived via e-mail. Can they trace it to the PC from which
> it was sent, which I'd assume was a public computer, such as in a library?
>
> Could a technology-savvy person create a "From" address that can't be
> traced?
>

Law enforcement agencies have the tools and legal backing to pursue matters
like this. They can, for example, subpoena ISP records to trace the source
of the emails. If someone used a computer at a public library, for example,
they can determine who signed up to use the computer during the hour the
message was sent.

Given everything going on in this world, it's probably a good idea to refer
this matter to them.

Bill

"Marty" <mart915@REEMOOVEfrontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:ey1eShT9FHA.4004@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> The school where my daughter teaches has been plagued recently by a spate
> of bomb threats. The threats had been written on bathroom walls and have
> not been considered credible, but, nevertheless, they have to evacuate
> because they can't take chances.
>
> Today's threat arrived via e-mail. Can they trace it to the PC from which
> it was sent, which I'd assume was a public computer, such as in a library?
>
> Could a technology-savvy person create a "From" address that can't be
> traced?
>

Contact the FBI. They are experts in this kind of thing.

steve

"Marty" <mart915@REEMOOVEfrontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:ey1eShT9FHA.4004@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> The school where my daughter teaches has been plagued recently by a spate
> of bomb threats. The threats had been written on bathroom walls and have
> not been considered credible, but, nevertheless, they have to evacuate
> because they can't take chances.
>
> Today's threat arrived via e-mail. Can they trace it to the PC from which
> it was sent, which I'd assume was a public computer, such as in a library?
>
> Could a technology-savvy person create a "From" address that can't be
> traced?
>

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and
hope this miscreant overstepped and can be tracked down.

Yes it is possible to trace where the message came from but it is
difficult to find who actually sent it. For example your details are:

NNTP-Posting-Host: 70-101-116-227.dsl1-field.roc.ny.frontiernet.net
70.101.116.227

This tells me that you have used Frontiernet.net as your ISP or NG
server under IP address 70.101.116.227 on Tue, 29 Nov 2005 17:57:47
-0500.

The -500 is to make correction to tell me what this means in my own time
zone. So you have posted this message at 22:57:47 your time or 17:57:47
GMT.

However, this does not prove that you are the originator of the message
as you might have a wireless ADSL modem which is unsecured and I could
park my car outside your house and use your connection to send mass
mailings or to blackmail somebody.

It will require lots of police time to track the person down unless he
is a student playing ganes in which case it should be easy for the IT
manager to track him down and punish him.

hth


Marty wrote:
>
> The school where my daughter teaches has been plagued recently by a spate of
> bomb threats. The threats had been written on bathroom walls and have not
> been considered credible, but, nevertheless, they have to evacuate because
> they can't take chances.
>
> Today's threat arrived via e-mail. Can they trace it to the PC from which it
> was sent, which I'd assume was a public computer, such as in a library?
>
> Could a technology-savvy person create a "From" address that can't be
> traced?