Is A Public Ip Address Safe
The Dangers of Public IPs – NASP
Using the internet requires an IP address that is given to you by your internet service provider (ISP). Depending on the internet plan you’re subscribed to, this IP address can either be static or dynamic. Regardless of the kind of IP address you have, if it has been assigned to you by your ISP, it’s called a public IP address. This IP address holds information about you from the viewpoint of an internet user who is subscribed to a certain internet service. Not only is this IP address logged by various third parties as you browse the internet, but it also records the websites you visit.
While public IPs are pretty common, they also pose a variety of dangers. Irrespective of whether these public IPs are being used by organisations as a whole or individuals, the negative factors remain the same. They open up your device to be connected to the internet from anywhere and by anyone, and this includes the likes of cybercriminals. If your public IP falls in the wrong hands, it can pose a threat to most of your sensitive information, such as credit card details.
Why are Public IPs Unsafe?
Public IPs don’t let you hold on to your online privacy. Here are some of the reasons public IPs can be extremely dangerous and unsafe:
1. Exposes Your Physical Location
A public IP address, much like your home address, exposes your physical location. Although there are chances of it not always being accurate, unscrupulous third parties can use it to combine with information such as GPS movements and browsing history from your Internet Protocol or IP to get hold of your actual location. This becomes especially easy if it’s a static IP address, as those remain unchanged.
2. Makes You Susceptible to Hacker Attacks
Hackers and cybercriminals can find out a lot about you by knowing your public IP address. Apart from being able to decipher your location, competent hackers can put it to use in several ways. When your IP tracking information is combined with other surveillance information, cybercriminals can not only hack into your bank accounts but also your social media accounts and so on. This leaves you susceptible to monetary breaches, identity thefts, etc.
3. Subject You to Several Government and ISP Restrictions
Using a public IP address equates to exposing yourself to various government and ISP restrictions. The government can very easily monitor and spy on your online activities without encrypting your network connection. Since your ISP is the one who’s in control of your internet, the government can choose to order the internet service provider to follow their regulations. Therefore, they will have to do just what the government orders, which includes risking your online privacy and restricting your internet access.
4. Breaches Your Network System
Having a public IP address is like browsing the internet barefoot without any protection whatsoever. Not only will you be prone to cyberattacks, but your device will be left unprotected even if you encounter malicious websites on the way. Your internet service provider won’t be able to do anything either in case your network system gets breached.
5. Leaves You Open to Being Spied on by Unscrupulous Third Parties
The data transmission that happens between devices over the internet is another thing that’s open to risks as far as public IPs are concerned. Regardless of whether the data is being transmitted from device-to-device or from a local device to cloud storage, protecting the data transmission is impossible when you’re using a public IP address. Unscrupulous third parties will find a way to locate your network location, breach your system, and circumvent the data transmission process, thereby making the transfer of important files over the internet extremely difficult.
6. Monitors Your Browsing Activity
Your internet service provider has the liberty of charting your online activities as long as you’re using their internet service. This means that the government can request information about you from your ISP at any given time. Therefore, your online activities will be monitored by both your ISP as well as the government. Every activity you cover over the internet, starting from the websites you visit and the videos you watch, to your online shopping transactions and conversations, will be open to be viewed by your ISP and the government.
Private IP Address: Alternative to Public IPs
The best alternative to public IPs is a private IP address. It can be defined as an IP address that’s designed for internal use behind a router or other devices with Network Address Translation (NAT). Private IP addresses are also known as local IP addresses. They differ from public IPs in many ways, one of them being that they don’t have to be unique, which entails that other devices can use the same address, provided that they aren’t on the same network.
Devices registered on the private network cannot communicate with outside devices, thereby eliminating the risk of an address conflict. Data protection and privacy are the biggest reasons to
use a private IP address. No data can enter or exit the private network as the devices on the network aren’t connected to the outside internet. Private IPs serve as the perfect setup for small businesses that handle a lot of data.
A major advantage of a private IP is that since it’s not connected to an external network, it’s free from any vulnerabilities that might be attached to the technical difficulties outside the network. A private IP remains unaffected by loss in internet connectivity or external server outages. Therefore, a problem within the network can be solved by servicing the network equipment instead of having to wait for a server operator or Internet Service Provider.
Summing Up
Masking your IP address to protect your data is one of the ways of keeping all your sensitive information safe, and that can be done using proxies. Organisations can make use of proxy services such as the ones. They offer you a wide range of varieties to choose from that include different package rates, and you can choose one accordingly depending on whichever best suits your needs.
Using a public IP address is similar to opening up about all your precious information to every malicious website out there. Public IPs increase your chances of cyberattacks, privacy breaches, and identity thefts, among other things. Therefore, it’s best to avoid them as much as possible. Use a private IP and keep all your data safe without having the digital world know every crucial bit about you.
The dangers of public IPs – Kaspersky
Almost every ISP offers an option to use a public IP address. Other names are “static IP, ” “Internet-routable IP, ” and sometimes “real IP. ” Some people buy this option having a specific purpose in mind, some opt in just for the sake of it. However, public IP addresses can pose numerous risks. To find out what they’re all about, who might need them, and what the dangers are, read on.
What’s an IP address, and how does it work?
If you want to send a friend a postcard, you need to know their address. Without it, the postcard won’t be delivered. The Internet is roughly the same. All online actions, from checking mail to watching cat videos, require data to be exchanged between your device and the host servers, and each participant in the process must have its own address.
For example, to open a page in a browser, your computer must contact the server at its address, and the server sends the page back using the computer’s address. The request and response are both transmitted by means of packets containing the addresses of the sender and recipient, just like with snail mail. Such addresses are called IP addresses, and they are written in the form of four numbers from 0 to 255, separated by decimal points: for example, 92. 162. 36. 203. This yields a total of just over 4 billion possible combinations, far fewer than the number of devices connected to the Internet.
To remap and preserve IP addresses, NAT (network address translation) was conceived. Simply put, it works as follows: ISPs use one external public IP address for all of their subscribers, assigning internal private ones to each of them.
It’s analogous to an old office phone system (or some still in use), with all calls from outside coming to one external number, and employee phones using additional, internal numbers. The internal numbers weren’t reachable directly from outside; you’d ring a general number and a secretary would put you through.
The role of secretary in this case is performed by NAT. On receiving a packet for an external server, it notes which device sent it (so as to know where to send the response) and substitutes the device’s address with its own, which is common to all, before forwarding the packet. Accordingly, on receiving the response packet initially sent to the common address, NAT inserts into it the address in the provider’s internal network, and the “letter” wends its way to the device to which it is actually addressed.
The NAT mechanism can be nested — for example, your home Wi-Fi router, itself subject to the provider’s NAT, creates a local network with its own private IP addresses and then redirects to your devices packets sent to and from the provider’s network. Everything would seem to be fine, so why the need for static IP address?
NAT works great just as long as all connections are initiated from the internal network — in other words, when it is you opening sites, downloading files, and watching videos. But when it comes to connecting to your device from the Internet, NAT is not up to the job. Packets arriving at the provider’s public IP address will go precisely nowhere, because they are not a response to anyone’s internal request, and their target destination is unknown.
So, when access to your network is needed from the outside, the solution is to use a public IP address. In our company telephone analogy, it’s a direct-dial number rather than the general switchboard.
Why bother with public IP?
Using a public IP address can be useful if, say, you want to access files on your home computer when at work or visiting friends, instead of storing them in the cloud.
Static IP addresses are also very popular with gamers, who use them to set up their own servers — with their own rules, mods, and maps — for multiplayer games and invite friends to join in. Also, a public IP address is needed for streaming games from a remote device such as an Xbox, PlayStation, or gaming PC to a laptop when playing away from home.
Sometimes, a public IP address is required to operate video surveillance and other security systems, or smart home solutions, but that applies primarily to outdated ones. Most modern systems are cloud-based. This means registering your home devices on a special trusted server, whereupon all commands you send go to the server, not directly to the devices. The devices then periodically “poke” the server to see if it has any commands for them. With this approach, a static IP is not required; NAT knows where to return the packets at all stages. Not only that, this server can be used to receive information from devices and manage them from anywhere in the world.
What’s dangerous about public IPs?
The main risk of using a public IP address is the same as the advantage: It allows anyone, anywhere to connect to your device directly from the Internet — and that includes cybercriminals. As they say, when you connect to the Internet, the Internet connects to you, in this case — directly. By exploiting various vulnerabilities, cybercriminals can get their hands on your files and steal confidential information to sell or for blackmail.
What’s more, attackers can change your Internet access settings, for example, forcing the router to feed you phishing websites where they can pinch your login credentials.
How do hackers know who to attack? For a start, there exist publicly available Internet services that regularly scan all IP addresses for vulnerabilities, making thousands of devices with exploitable bugs just a couple of clicks away. If cybercriminals want to get hold of not just anybody’s, but specifically your IP, they can do it when you use Skype, for example. Even when just visiting websites, your address is visible.
Incidentally, your real IP address can be used not only to hack into your home network, but also to carry out a DDoS attack, by bombarding you with packets from different devices simultaneously and overloading your Internet channel and router. Your ISP is protected against this — are you? Such attacks are often carried out against gamers and streamers, for example, to knock an opponent out of the competition by sabotaging their Internet connection.
How to stay protected
The best way to stay protected is, of course, not to use a public IP address at all, especially if you are not sure that you need it. Don’t be fooled by ISP ads, however persuasive they may be.
But if you are sure that static IP is for you, you have to work harder on your protection. The first step is to change the default password on the router. This won’t guard against hackers exploiting vulnerabilities in a particular model, but it will save you from less-skilled attackers. It’s a good idea to use a router model with as few hacker-friendly bugs as possible, but for that you have to do some research, rummaging around online for the latest information.
Router firmware should be regularly updated; updates generally fix errors found in earlier versions. And it should go without saying that all built-in protection tools should be turned on — what you’ll find in SOHO routers are not the most effective solutions, but they’re still better than nothing.
On top of that, a VPN is recommended to keep your public IP address hidden wherever you are browsing. When it’s active, the VPN server address will be displayed instead.
Finally, don’t go without security solutions on your computers and mobile devices. These days, they not only catch malware, but also protect against other kinds of attacks, such as redirection to malicious sites or the injection of malvertising — if your router is hacked, these are the attacks most likely to occur.
What is the difference between a public and private IP address?
Last update February 25, 2021 12:21
All IPv4 addresses can be divided into two major groups: global (or public, external) – this group can also be called ‘WAN addresses’ — those that are used on the Internet, and private (or local, internal) addresses — those that are used in the local network (LAN).
Public IP address
These are public (global) addresses that are used on the Internet. A public IP address is an IP address that is used to access the Internet. Public IP addresses can be routed on the Internet, unlike private addresses. The presence of a public IP address on your router or computer will allow you to organize your own server (VPN, FTP, WEB, etc. ), remote access to your computer, video surveillance cameras, and get access to them from anywhere on the global a public IP address, you can set up any home server to publish it on the Internet: Web (HTTP), VPN (PPTP/IPSec/OpenVPN, WireGuard), media (audio/video), FTP, NAS, game server, etc.
Note: All servers and sites on the Internet use public IP addresses (for example, — 172. 217. 22. 14, Google’s DNS server — 8. 8. 8). All of the public IP-addresses on the Internet are unique to their host or server and cannot duplicate.
For home users, an ISP can provide one or more public IP addresses (as a rule, it is a paid service).
The NAT-enabled IPv4 router allows home network devices to use one public IP address that it has got from a provider on the WAN interface for the Internet connection. This external public IP address can be used to access home network devices from the Internet as well, but for this purpose, it is necessary to set up Port forwarding on your router.
Due to the limited number of public IP addresses and the increasing number of Internet users, ISPs are now more common to give private IP addresses to subscribers.
Private IP address
Private (internal) addresses are not routed on the Internet and no traffic can be sent to them from the Internet, they only supposed to work within the local ivate addresses include IP addresses from the following subnets:
Range from 10. 0. 0 to 10. 255. 255 — a 10. 0 network with a 255. 0 or /8 (an 8-bit) mask
Range from 172. 16. 0 to 172. 31. 255 — a 172. 240. 0 or /12
A 192. 168. 0 to 192. 255 range, which is a 192. 0 network masked by 255. 0 or /16
A special range 100. 64. 0 to 100. 127. 255 with a 255. 192. 0 or /10 network mask; this subnet is recommended according to rfc6598 for use as an address pool for CGN (Carrier-Grade NAT)
Those are reserved IP addresses. These addresses are intended for use in closed local area networks and the allocation of such addresses is not globally controlled by access to the Internet from a private IP address is not possible. In this case, the connection to the Internet must go through NAT (Network Address Translation replaces the private IP address with a public one). Private IP addresses within the same local network must be unique and cannot duplicate.
NOTE: Important! If your ISP provides you with an IP address from the list above, you will not be able to set up a connection to your home network computers and servers from the Internet, because private IP addresses are not routed (not accessible) on the Internet. If you need to access your home network computers from the Internet, you must contact your ISP to obtain a public IP ever, even with a private IP address, you can set up remote access to the Keenetic’s web interface and home network or your router’s resources (services) via our domain name service, KeenDNS. This includes, for example, access to a device with a web interface, such as a network drive, webcam, server, or to a control interface of the Transmission torrent client that’s running on your router.
As far as Internet security is concerned, the use of a private IP address is more secure than the use of a public IP address, as private IP addresses are not directly visible on the Internet and are located behind NAT, which also ensures the security of the home network. When using a public IP address, measures are required to provide additional security for the computer or server that are exposing their services to the Internet (e. g. using a firewall to block ports and protocols that are not used by the server; using a DMZ network segment to separate public services from the local network, etc. ).
A complete list of network descriptions for IPv4 can be found in RFC6890.
How do I check if ISP assigns me a public address?
To check if your IP address is public, you can use (or any similar service). You will be shown the IP address that was used for accessing the site; and if it matches the IP address that your Internet service provider assigned you, then you have a public IP example:
The IP address of the Keenetic’s WAN interface is shown in its web interface. On the ‘System dashboard’ page in the ‘Internet’ info panel, click ‘Connection Details’. In the ‘IP address’ field, you will see the address which is used to access the Internet.
Here, the addresses are the same, and it is actually a public address used on the WAN of the router.
If you see that the IP addresses do not match and the external WAN IP address of Keenetic in the web interface belongs to one of the private network ranges, then the router has a private IP address.
Frequently Asked Questions about is a public ip address safe
Is it safe to have public IP address?
The main risk of using a public IP address is the same as the advantage: It allows anyone, anywhere to connect to your device directly from the Internet — and that includes cybercriminals. … If cybercriminals want to get hold of not just anybody’s, but specifically your IP, they can do it when you use Skype, for example.Nov 23, 2018
What can someone do with a public IP address?
The presence of a public IP address on your router or computer will allow you to organize your own server (VPN, FTP, WEB, etc.), remote access to your computer, video surveillance cameras, and get access to them from anywhere on the global network.Feb 25, 2021
Can public IP be hacked?
Hacking someone through their public IP address is very difficult. That is because internet service providers and routers have firewalls. However, hackers who obtain your IP address can get ahold of some very valuable information about you, including your city, state, and ZIP code.
