Cyberbullying in Minecraft is unfortunately occurring even within some of the most popular public Minecraft servers. Children of all ages eventually want to venture onto public servers even though they may have their own awesome private gaming servers. Their friends will be on public servers so they will want to connect and play on them as well.
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Distributed Denial Of Service, or DDOS for short, is an attempt by hackers to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. A DDOS attack can bring down websites and cut out internet.
Although there are various ways to protect against DOS (Denial of service) attacks, what if attacks can be sent to your personal computer routers?
It’s not just the public servers that are hit by hackers in a DDOS (Distributed Denial Of Service) which can ultimately bring down a server, there’s a growing trend for these nefarious hackers to prey on in gaming innocent Minecraft players by threatening to do what is known as DOXing (which is a form of getting someone’s personal info (Phone, Address, full name, etc) and posting it on the internet gaming forums/chats/blogs etc. or for other nefarious activities unbeknownst to the innocent victim.
Essentially, if someone is determined to attack and target you, the very first thing they will try to do is obtain your IP address.
If they don’t have your IP then you won’t be targeted. One of the most common methods of obtaining a Minecraft player’s IP is utilizing a Skype resolver. If you’re on Skype the hackers will attempt to resolve your IP via your Skype username.
The hackers will do a search for your Minecraft username on Skype.
Do not create a Skype account with the same username as your Minecraft account.
If you’re using a nick-name then they cannot resolve your Skype address.
However, if they do find your Skype username which just so happens to be the same as your Minecraft username, then that can be plugged into a Skype resolver. They will then have ample opportunity to locate your IP address.
The next malicious step in the hacker’s dirty deeds it to put your IP into something known as the booter (sites used to DDOS people) to launch their attack.
In the Skype resolver image below, the hacker inserts the Skype username and they are given additional options to initiate a DDOS on your router after your IP information is revealed if available. Note that this appears to be a public service tool for hackers. In this scenario odds are that these booter links don’t really work but are just links to malware and viruses. However, a determined hacker will nevertheless find a booter that can perform a DDOS on your router.
Unfortunately, this is how the Minecraft cyberbullies scare other players by threatening to DDOS their routers. These hackers will threaten to shut down your computer or router. They may never come through with these threats. If they’ve demonstrated to you that they’ve obtained your personal information this then becomes quite terrifying to an unsuspecting Minecraft player.
Hackers believe they are unstoppable and they will initiate a chat with you right on the public server. The hacker will prove to you that he’s obtained your information by posting your ISP info while chatting with you. He my post the city you live from your IP address. He will threaten to use the information against you for his/her own malicious reasons. It’s best not to engage in any chat conversation with this individual.
If this happens you must immediately contact the Admin of the server. Most reputable servers have Admins and helpers who will assist you in this situation. Take note of the hacker’s current Minecraft username. If you can take screen shots, this is even more proof for you. The Admin will immediately ban this individual from the game.
The hacker’s end goal is to not only scare you but to also launch a malicious attack against you by overloading your router with packets of data. This in turn will cause it to cut out for an amount of time but it all depends on how long the attack is sent for which could be from 2 mins to much longer.
Do not panic. Apparently this will not fizzle and blow up your router.
Also note that Admins on public servers also have access to your IP address. If you’re unfamiliar with the Admin(s) running the server take extra precautions if you want to join these type of servers.
So if you plan to play on an unknown public server keep in mind that by not hiding or masking your IP it’s possible that you could be exposing your ISP (internet server provider) info to these ne’er–do–wells.
What can you do to stay safe?
When you’re playing Minecraft with a group of strangers, there’s bound to be conflict or disagreements. Someone may get offended or insulted by you. So if you play nice and be friendly to others everything should be fine.
But hackers like to prey on random individuals for no particular reason. So as previously stated they will most likely try to obtain your IP address through Skype using your in game name. If they can’t find you, they’ll give up and move on to another unsuspecting player.
Never share your details online.
There are very few players with the resources to actually DDoS another player. For the average player, you are relatively safe. To remain safe don’t share your details online unless you know you can trust the person.
One option is to prevent Skype resolvers from getting your IP-address.
Here’s one YouTube video that gives an explanation on how to disallow a direct Skype connection to non-contacts.
NOTE: This is for PC machines not for other devices.
Follow these steps carefully.
STEP 1– Tools > Options > Advanced > Connection
On the top of the Skype application there should be headers, Skype, Contacts, Conversation, etc. Navigate to “Tools” and press, then go to “Options” after that locate to the “Advanced” header and find “Connection“, press this and you will have settings ready to be changed.
Enable or Check “Allow direct connections to your contacts only.”
You can test it by inputting your skype username at one of the Skype resolver sites.
Another option is to hide or mask your IP.
There’s a three day free trial to test out this software. Just Google HIDE MY IP in your browser if you’d like more information. There are many companies that offer this service.
From the drop down list you can select a different state or a different country.
With HIDE MY IP enabled you can now check your IP address.
It should now display a different IP that’s not your computer’s IP.
Please note: I’m in no way affiliated with this company and I’m not suggesting that you should purchase anything. I’m merely showing you an alternative option if you’re concerned about the possibility that other players may find a way to obtain your IP address in a Minecraft game on a public server.
I’ve posted a new video lecture called: What is DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) – Protect Your IP Against Skype Resolvers and Minecraft Cyberbullying!
In this video I demonstrate how the hackers can obtain your IP and how you can use hidemyip to mask your IP address.
If you have any questions please feel free to post in the discussion forum.
Links Resources:
[Guide]What is DDOS? and how to stay safe?
https://hypixel.net/threads/guide-what-is-ddos-and-how-to-stay-safe.195317/
How to protect your IP from skype resolvers!
How To Prevent Skype Resolvers from getting your IP-Address:
How to make your Skype IP undetectable from resolvers?
https://www.reddit.com/r/bigseo/comments/3ou87r/how_to_make_your_skype_ip_undetectable_from/
Skype resolver:
What you should do if a skid/script kiddie/wannabe hacker comes to your server!