What I Can Do With Someone’S Ip Address
What You Can Do With an IP Address, and How to Hide Yours
With someone’s IP address, you can learn a user’s general location, and disable some parts of their internet browsing device connected to the internet has an IP address, which helps websites identify your third-party programs or services, someone with your IP address could possibly block you from reaching certain you’re concerned about the security of your IP address, consider installing a firewall and Business Insider’s Tech Reference library for more stories.
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Every device that connects to the internet has an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The
IP address, which is composed of a series of numbers separated by decimal points, looks something like “198. 169. 0. 100. ” This number is used to help devices talk to each other and exchange data. Your network router has its own IP address, of course, as does every device on your network. But because these identifiers are so important, that means a hacker can potentially use them against you. Here’s what you should know about your IP address, and what it can be used for.
What you can do with an IP addressFirstly: most users won’t have to worry about any of this. It’s unlikely that any hacker would take the time to learn your specific IP address, and manipulate your specific device. There’s no real reward in it for them, so unless they love playing pranks, it would be a waste of fact, every website you visit already knows your IP address — that’s how they know to load on your computer, as opposed to someone else’ said, armed with your IP address, someone has the potential to take certain actions against your network. As such, it’s a good idea to keep your IP private from individuals you don’t could:
Block you from accessing websitesIt’s possible to use your IP address to prevent you from performing certain online activities. The most common example of this is blocking your ability to reach a certain site, or to post messages in forums or the comment section of web sites. In fact, this is the most common way that website administrators ban rulebreakers. It’s often referred to as an “IP Ban. “Your IP address can also be used to block or ban you from playing online games on some gaming services.
Learn your general geographic location Your IP address can reveal your geographic location. In most cases, this won’t be any more specific than your city and state. In rare cases, it could be as specific as your IP address also carries the name of your Internet Service Provider (the company that gives you internet access — think Spectrum, or Xfinity).
Your IP address signals where you are. ; William Antonelli/Business Insider
While there’s not a lot someone can do with this information, it can be combined with details from other sources to piece together data about your identity.
Perform a Denial of Service AttackKnowing your IP address, a malicious user may be able to perform a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, in which your network is flooded with data. It prevents normal traffic from getting through and overloads the network’s ability to function. However, these attacks are usually directed at large companies or websites — it’s rare that anyone would set up a DoS attack on a regular user.
How to protect your IP addressWhile there are some risks, your IP address alone poses very limited danger to you or your network. Your IP address can’t be used to reveal your identity or specific location, nor can it be used to hack into or remotely take control of your computer. That said, if you’re still concerned, a few simple precautions can help protect and foremost, your network should be protected with a firewall. Most routers have firewalls built in, but you should contact your router manufacturer or internet service provider to learn about your additional protection, you can use Virtual Private Network (
VPN) software. A VPN hides your IP address from all outside users, making it extremely difficult for someone to uncover your IP address or monitor your online activity.
NordVPN is one of the most popular VPN services.
NordVPN; William Antonelli/Business Insider
‘What is my IP? ‘: Here’s what an IP address does, and how to find yours’What is a good internet speed? ‘: The internet speeds you should aim for, based on how you use the internet’What is Wi-Fi calling? ‘: How to make calls from your smartphone even if you don’t have a cell signalHow to find the IP address of your internet router using a Mac, PC, iPhone, or AndroidNo, Bluetooth doesn’t use cellular data — here’s how the popular wireless technology connects your devices
Dave Johnson
Freelance Writer
Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he’s also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.
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What can someone do with my IP address? – NordVPN
There are dangers to someone knowing your IP address, but they’re rarely discussed. Criminals can use your IP to launch various cyberattacks and scams against you and others. Before we begin, however, let’s start with finding out what your personal IP address is: What is my IP? By the end of this post, you’ll know what to protect yourself against and discover ways to hide your IP address. Pretty can someone find my IP address? Your IP address is a unique string of numbers assigned to you by your ISP – like a delivery address for online traffic. If you connect to a different Wi-Fi or move house, your IP address will change along with your ISPs use dynamic IP addresses, which aren’t fixed to your device, but you can have a static IP if you wish to (you can learn more about different types of IP addresses here). For example, if you want your computer IP address to always stay the same, you’ll be able to specify that through the device’s settings. This can be useful when port-forwarding, if you want certain data to be sent directly from your router to your computer IP your IP address holds certain information about you, someone may want to use it for malicious purposes. There plenty of ways people can get hold of your IP address. Here are just a few:If you torrent files. When you download content from torrent sites, every member of the swarm (total seeders and leechers) can see your IP address. All they need to do is check the list of borrowing your device. If somebody borrows or uses your computer, they can find out what your IP address is in seconds, as there are countless free websites that let you do an email. If you send an email to someone, they can check the header of the message, which could contain your IP address. Yahoo! and Microsoft Outlook are known to include IP addresses in the email icking on a link. Any link you click on will need to provide your iP address for the server at the other end to deliver the content provided by the link. Whoever owns that server will see your IP a VPN hide my IP address? Yes, it does. A VPN completely hides your IP address and encrypts your internet connection. Even better, a VPN prevents third parties like your ISP from eavesdropping on your data. Your online activity cannot be traced back to you, giving you a powerful layer of rdVPN has more than 5500 servers in 59 countries, providing you with the best speeds available. With one NordVPN account, you can protect up to six different devices: smartphones, tablets, laptops, and more. You can also install it on your router and secure gadgets that don’t support VPN functionality can jump from one server to another in seconds, changing your IP address and masking your location. Protect your online privacy out NordVPN on the latest cyber news and tipsWhat can people do with your IP? While your IP address won’t give away sensitive information like your phone number or apartment position, hackers can still use your IP against you. If a cybercriminal knows your IP address, the consequences can be devastating:Someone can get your location and intrude on your privacy in real lifeYour IP address shows what city you’re in, so if someone ill-intentioned finds it out, you could be in trouble. Let’s say you’ve announced that you’re going on holiday on your social media. A criminal only needs to do a little extra digging to find your house and burgle it while you’re meone can use your IP to hack your deviceThe internet uses ports as well as your IP address to connect. There are thousands of ports for every IP address, and a hacker who has your IP can try all of those ports to brute-force a connection, taking over your phone for example and stealing your a criminal does get access to your device, they could also install malware on it, which could expose your meone can impersonate you to get hold of your IP addressYour ISP could reveal your IP address to someone else. Criminals who know your name on social media can contact your ISP and try to impersonate you or use a vishing attack to steal your personal details. Remember that telecom operators are only humans who use systems with vast amounts of personally identifiable information. Employers can track your activityIPs are owned by ISPs, and each IP is assigned to a user. When you’re connected to your work network your employers could potentially see and track everything you do online – giving you hardly any privacy at all. A hacker can hit you with a DDoS attackIf a hacker has your IP address, they could harm you with a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack. A DDoS attack uses an army of computers controlled by a hacker to flood your device with traffic so it disconnects from the internet and completely shuts bercriminals can frame you for illegal activityHackers are known to use hacked IP addresses to download illegal content that threatens national security as well as anything else they don’t want traced back to them. Protect your IP address, and you will protect do I stop someone from using my IP address? You should always protect any personally identifiable information even if you think the risks do not apply to you. With enough determination, a bad actor can stitch together an entire identity just by going online, and your IP could be the starting are three ways to protect your IP address and prevent yourself from being exploited by hackers: Change your privacy settingsChange the settings on all your instant messaging as well as any other apps to “private” and don’t accept calls or messages from people you don’t know. Hackers are known to gain access to your IP address through messaging apps like Skype. Update your firewall and routerA criminal can hack your router remotely and retrieve your IP address, especially if you’re still using the default one. Change the password of your router regularly and be sure to use a long mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. Use a VPNA VPN will protect your IP address and your private information. By routing your online data through a VPN server with its own IP address, you can prevent websites from logging information about your device and location. While you might be principally interested in VPNs for their IP-switching functionality, they also come with a range of additional other benefits can a VPN offer? A VPN will establish an encrypted tunnel between your device and a VPN server. That means that no one can spy on your data as it moves from your device to the server — not even your internet service provider (ISP) has never been more valuable. Your ISP can monitor your activity and sell that information to advertisers and other third parties. Hackers can steal your passwords and use your private details to launch phishing attacks. It’s vital that you protect your rdVPN provides a number of extra features that you might find particularly useful. Our CyberSec system will enhance your protection against malware by shielding you from high-risk websites and other known threats. When Kill Switch is enabled, you can avoid any unexpected data exposure. And with the NordLynx protocol, you can enjoy unrivaled speeds, without compromising on out NordVPN on the latest cyber news and tips
Zen Bahar
Verified author
Zen likes to use her cybersecurity knowledge to help protect the privacy and freedom of others, otherwise, you can find her playing with paints in her studio in London.
What Can Someone Do With Your IP Address? | CactusVPN
Privacy is more important than ever nowadays – especially on the Internet. In fact, you’ll hear tons of people and read dozens of articles talking about how vital it is to hide your IP address when you’re online.
But what can someone do with your IP address, actually?
Table of contents
How Can People Find Your IP Address?
So, What Can Someone Do With Your IP Address?
Can My IP Address Be Hacked and Used?
Can Someone Remotely Access My Computer With My IP Address?
How to Protect Your IP Address from Hackers, Advertisers, and Surveillance
What to Do If Someone Has Your IP Address
Here’s all you need to know:
What Is an IP Address?
An IP (Internet Protocol) address acts as an identifier for the device you use to access the web. That helps websites know exactly where to send the data you ask for through connection sides just identifying your device, your IP address also reveals your geo-location since it contains info like:What country you are city you are your ISP your ZIP code is.
The easiest way for someone to find your IP address is if you torrent files, that makes it very simple for every member of the Swarm (the total number of seeders and leechers) to see your IP address. They just need to check the list of peers, and they can see your whole address right there – along with the type and version of the torrent client you’re, if you send an email to anyone, they can just check the email message’s header since it might contain your IP address. Not all email services reveal IP addresses, though. For example, Gmail doesn’t do that (they only show their mail server’s address), but Yahoo! and Microsoft Outlook do. A more unconventional way for someone to find your IP address is if you run a website, and host it on your own server at home. They can just open their operating system’s command prompt, and ping the website’s domain. When they do that, the command prompt will return the website’s IP ternatively, they could just use an online IP lookup tool to do the same course, if you use a data center server to host your website, you don’t need to worry about that.
Here are other “minor” ways someone could find your real IP address:
By checking the web server logs of the websites you visit. Don’t forget – every website you access sees and stores your IP address. Of course, only website owners and admins can see that info – or pretty much anyone if the website suffers a data HTML bugs can reveal your IP address when you open an email or view an image in said email. This isn’t exactly a “bug, ” but a piece of code in a transparent image that’s present in an email. People can use services like WhoReadMe to attach such an image to the emails they send. If you interact with the message, the service will alert the sender, and will also show them your location (so, your IP address) someone is in your home, and are using your WiFi network, they can just use Google, and type “what is my IP address, ” and they’ll instantly see, blog, and gaming server admins can see your real IP address. That’s how they block you, after teracting with any online ad (especially on social media) will reveal your IP address to meone could use a tool like Grabify to create a link to a legit website, and send it to you. Clicking on the link takes you to a real website, but will also allow the person who sent it to track info about you, including your IP address.
Here are the main ways your online experience can take a hit if someone has your IP address:
Restrict Your Access to Certain Services
“If someone has my IP address what can they do to my online access? ”
Well, content providers can use your IP address to target you with geo-blocks – content restrictions that essentially prevent you from accessing a web page or the content on a website if you’re from a blacklisted geographical region.
Like we already mentioned, your IP address leaks your geo-location, and any website you send connection requests to or visit will see and log your IP address.
That’s how services like Netflix or Hulu keep people from accessing US content from other countries, for example.
Spam You With “Personalized” Ads
Ever looked up an article reviewing the best vacuum cleaners, read it and closed it, only to later see tons of vacuum cleaner ads on your social media feed?
The vacuum cleaner is just an example – really, anything goes with that statement.
Well, that creepy “coincidence” is actually how advertisers track you on the web, and spam you with ads you “might” be interested in.
Advertisers normally use tracking pixels, but they also make use of your IP address too. With it, they can deliver location-based ads that are in your native language.
Some people might find that useful, but for most of us it feels like an invasion of our privacy.
Add It to a Database and Sell It on the Dark Web
Some hackers might collect IP addresses to sell them on the dark web for a profit.
Naturally, a cybercriminal won’t sell just your IP address. That’s not really worth much to anyone. Instead, they’ll compile a whole database containing user data they stole from various websites – and that data includes your IP address.
Still, that doesn’t mean you should take this lightly. If someone buys your IP address on the dark web, it’s not because they have good intentions with it. They’ll either try to use it to impersonate you, find out personal info about you, or use it in scams.
Find Limited Personal Info About You
Don’t think someone could find your name, physical address, and phone number by just knowing your IP address.
At most, they’d be able to pinpoint your location to a specific area – a country, city, or even a neighborhood.
Still, if the cybercriminal is skilled enough, they could find out who your ISP is from your IP address, and use phishing and vishing attacks against them to find out your personal details. Stuff like that has happened before, so it’s no speculation.
Cyberstalkers who are persistent enough could also try using your IP address to track your online actions, and find more personal information about you. Though, again, that would only work if they manage to trick your ISP into revealing sensitive data, or hack them to get it.
DoS/DDoS Your Network
If a cybercriminal knows your IP address, they can DDoS/DoS you – essentially flood your network with unwanted traffic to the point where your web connection goes down.
This tends to happen a lot in online gaming – with upset players DoS/DDoS-ing other players.
Sue You for Copyright Infringement
Yep, stuff like that can happen if you live in a country where the law is very tough on torrenting – like the US, for instance.
Torrent monitoring and copyright agencies might keep an eye on torrent traffic, and single out your IP address. If they do that, they can find out who your ISP is, and get in touch with them to ask them to hande over your contact details and personal information.
Then, depending on how serious your “torrenting crime” is, they might just threaten you with DMCA notices, or they could sue you directly.
Prevent You from Playing Online Games
This just applies to online games. Basically, an admin who’s a sore loser might ban you from the match.
Now, when they ban you, they’re actually banning your IP address. Since the gaming server blacklists it, you can’t reconnect to it anymore until someone lifts the ban.
“Can My IP Address Be Hacked and Used? ”
Not exactly, though you might see people talking about “IP hacks” online.
However, a cybercriminal can’t exactly hack an IP address. It’s just a number, not software or hardware.
“Okay, so what can a hacker do with an IP address then? ”
Well, a cybercriminal could theoretically use your IP address. To do that, they’d need to hack your device, therefore getting access to its IP address. That, or they could get access to your home WiFi network – which they can easily do if you don’t secure it properly.
Once they’re using your network or device, they can start doing illegal stuff with your IP address – like making death threats or downloading illegal torrents, child pornography, or content that might threaten the country’s national security.
“Can Someone Remotely Access My Computer With My IP Address? ”
It depends.
Usually, no. Just knowing someone’s IP address isn’t exactly enough to remotely hack their devices.
Still, a very skilled cybercriminal could use your IP address to scan for open ports associated with it. If you’re not familiar with ports, just think of them as pipelines data flows through into and out of your network and device.
If a hacker were to manage to find an open port, and gain control over it (and many others), they might have a way to remotely control your computer. However, that can only happen if your operating system is out of date, you don’t use antivirus/antimalware software, and you turned your firewall off.
Another thing a cybercriminal could do is use your IP address to learn personal info about you and your browsing habits, and use phishing methods to try and trick you into installing malicious software on your device. If they’re successful, they can get remote access to your device.
Here are some good ways to hide your IP address to make sure nobody can track or steal it:
1. Use a VPN Service
A VPN is an online service you can use to quickly and easily hide your IP address. All you need to do is connect to a VPN server, and it will automatically replace your real IP address with its own address.
Before committing to a VPN, it’s a good idea to test the connection well to make sure it doesn’t suffer any IP leaks.
Also, using a VPN with a Kill Switch is preferable. That way, if you ever lose your VPN connection for any reason, you won’t need to worry about anyone seeing your real IP address since the VPN will automatically cut off your web access until the connection is running again.
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We also provide shared IP addresses, so our servers mix your traffic with the traffic of other users, further protecting your privacy.
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2. Use a Proxy Server
Much like a VPN, a proxy server will also hide your IP address whenever you connect to it. However, it doesn’t offer the same level of security VPNs do.
So you don’t get high-end encryption that properly secures your traffic and data. Also, proxy servers often tend to be slower than VPN servers, so keep that in mind.
If you’re worried about that, but still want to use a proxy server, consider getting a VPN whose servers double as proxy servers – like CactusVPN, for instance.
3. Switch WiFi Networks
If you’re worried someone is targeting your IP address, and you have access to multiple WiFi networks, just switch between them. The moment you connect to a network, you’ll get a new IP address.
Of course, this isn’t an ideal solution. Public WiFi is pretty risky and full of cyber threats since most networks don’t use any kind of encryption.
4. Switch to Mobile Data
If you don’t have any WiFi networks you can use (can happen if you’re at home), another way to hide your IP address is to just turn on your mobile data.
When you do that, you’ll start using your cell phone provider’s network, so you’ll get a new IP address.
5. Talk With Your ISP
Since your ISP is the one who assigns IP addresses to you, it’s obvious you need to talk with them if you want to change it.
You could try seeing if they’d be willing to offer you a dynamic IP address – basically an address that changes every single time you go on the web.
Of course, if your ISP agrees, they might charge you more for that. And they might have you answer a few questions or fill out some forms too.
What About Tor?
Sure, Tor can also hide your IP address. It’s an anonymity network, after all.
However, there’s one big problem with it – the network already had a flaw some time ago that leaked users’ real IP addresses.
True, it was fixed, but who knows if an issue like that will show up again? The last thing you want is randomly exposing your IP address without even knowing it.
Besides that, you’ll also have to put up with other issues like the lack of encryption on the exit relay, having to only use the Tor browser, and slow speeds since there aren’t enough relays to support the huge number of Tor users.
Well, it’s pretty obvious – change it. You can do that with a VPN or proxy, or by asking your ISP to do it for you.
Other than that, there’s not much you can do. If you fear a cybercriminal is using your address to download or do illegal things, it’s best to alert the authorities as soon as possible.
What Can Someone Do With Your IP Address? The Bottom Line
Quite a lot – they can use it to find out approximate details about your location (country, city, ZIP code, ISP), restrict your access to certain websites or gaming servers, and target you with annoying ads.
As for how someone can find your IP address, they can try many things – from using IP lookup tools and checking the list of peers on torrent clients to using email HTML bugs and online ads.
To make sure your privacy stays intact, you should use a VPN or a proxy server to hide your IP address whenever you’re on the web.
