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In freenode I know my IP is shown making me vulnerable . Whats the best way to access IRC? Is it tor? I am on Windows 7 but if you have Linux specific solution I am open to them too

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    Having a visible IP is how the internet works. IP addresses being public isn't a vulnerability, its how the internet is designed to work.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Aug 19, 2013 at 13:24
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    IP being visible to trustable servers is okay. But not to evryone on the internet
    – madman
    Aug 19, 2013 at 23:46
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    funny how freenode becomes synonymous with IRC.
    – jiggunjer
    Dec 21, 2015 at 3:30

2 Answers 2

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The easiest way to hide your IP from other Freenode users is to use a cloak. To get one, register with NickServ and ask for one in the #freenode channel, as described in the FAQ.

You can ask for an unaffiliated cloak in #freenode. This is our standard
cloak and normally shows unaffiliated/youraccountname. You will need a
registered nickserv account. Remember to verify your email address. Some of our
registered groups offer their own cloaks for their projects. To obtain one of
these, you need to find the group contact for the group you are interested in,
and ask them to arrange the cloak for you.

Cloaks are not the safest solution though. A safer solution is to use TOR, as described here:

The primary Tor hidden service address for freenode is p4fsi4ockecnea7l.onion.
The service listens on ports 6667, 6697 (SSL), 7000 (SSL), and 7070 (SSL).
To connect, a NickServ account is needed, and the IRC client must be configured
to support SASL

Client-specific instructions for setting up SASL can be found here.

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    Note that you need a NickServ account before you can connect with Tor, to get one you need to connect to freenode. I've heard that you could also send a mail to freenode staff to ask them to create you one, but this is complicated. Oct 28, 2013 at 8:28
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The best way is to use Tor and SASL. There are ways to find the IP of a connected user, even if using the unaffiliated cloak.

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    Can anyone find the IP or is it at Server operator or ISP level?
    – HRJ
    Nov 27, 2014 at 3:40
  • @HRJ - Only ISP. Normal users can use CTCP commands to get your local time, and hence narrow down the IP address space that you may fall into. But most dangerously is clicking on links that they put in channels: they could be the hosts of them, and they can easily get your IP address. Also direct file transfers can expose your IP address (but not commonly used these days).
    – caveman
    Jan 12, 2021 at 18:56

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