What is hamachi and why do I need it?

[wh7qq]

Ran "ifconfig" and noticed for the first time "ham0":

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ham0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 7a:79:19:02:cd:fa  
          inet addr:25.2.205.250  Bcast:25.255.255.255  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::7879:19ff:fe02:cdfa/64 Scope:Link
          inet6 addr: 2620:9b::1902:cdfa/96 Scope:Global
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1404  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:183 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:500 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:36069 (36.0 KB)

What is this **** and why is it here? I find online that it is some kind of a vpn and the inet addr is from the UK Department of Defense or from a European organization called "ripe.net" based in Amsterdam.

I just removed it using

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sudo apt-get remove --purge logmein-hamachi

Now we'll see if it breaks anything.

[jimallyn]

I guess the real question is: how did it get there?

[kukamuumuka]

Hamachi goes when you have installed it for Minacraft.
http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Tutorial ... ection_LAN

It is better to remove, because it allows someone to see and ? in your computer.
http://security.stackexchange.com/quest ... se-hamachi

Since its a publicly available VPN, connecting to a Hamachi network is a lot like connecting you your own LAN; except for the fact that EVERYONE on the Hamachi network you are connected to is unknown and can pose a very real threat to anyone on the network. Since you are essentially providing a door into your own network without some of the more external safety precautions, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some unscrupulous people taking advantage of it.

[wh7qq]

I don't do on-line games including minecrap so I am at a loss as to how this got on my desktop. I suppose it was something I inadvertently loaded but no idea of what. Whereis on the IP address assigned to ham0 yielded:

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inetnum:        25.0.0.0 - 25.255.255.255
netname:        UK-MOD-19850128
descr:          DINSA, Ministry of Defence
country:        GB
org:            ORG-DMoD1-RIPE
admin-c:        MN1891-RIPE
tech-c:         MN1891-RIPE
status:         LEGACY
remarks:        For information on "status:" attribute read https://www.ripe.net/data-tools/db/faq/faq-status-values-legacy-resources
mnt-by:         UK-MOD-MNT
mnt-domains:    UK-MOD-MNT
mnt-routes:     UK-MOD-MNT
source:         RIPE # Filtered

Scary looking...guess that my using Linux is subversive and my occasional forays into Tor confirm it. I hope UK-MOD get bored to tears looking at me.

[jungle_boy]

Hamachi is a multiplayer (on line) app of MInecraft.

[wh7qq]

Digging around my computer with

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sudo find / -name *hamachi*

, I found several things:

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/lib/modules/3.13.0-24-generic/kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/packetengines/hamachi.ko
/root/Desktop/hamachi-crash.log
/usr/src/linux-headers-3.13.0-24-generic/include/config/hamachi.h

The crash.log documented an attempt to use logmein from 2/15 but the interesting thing was the apparent kernel support for hamachi. This is not unique to my computer...found it on a fresh 17.1 install on my new box that has not had much added to it yet. Looks like it is supported, for whatever reason.