What Can Someone Do With Your IP Address

What can someone do with your IP address? That’s the burning question we will dive into. However, before explaining that, let’s also look at what is an IP address.

Tools like virtual private networks help users in securing their network traffic and IP address. The main reason to hide an IP address is that if someone knows about it, the person can use it against you. Let’s read on to know in detail what can someone do with your IP address.

What Is an IP Address?

An IP address is a unique web address that differentiates your device on a network. It is mainly responsible for sending and receiving online information.

Why Is IP Address Important?

IP addresses are as important as your identity card. It’s not less than an identity card when it comes to the online realm. IP addresses identify your computer or server on the internet. Mainly, IP addresses are used to send and receive online information. They also play an important role in routing traffic where it needs to be and dropping emails in the respective inboxes.

What Happens When Someone Gets My IP Address?

This is the prime concern for all security-focused individuals. Anyone who takes security seriously might wonder what someone can do with my IP address? The answer to this question is quite simple yet quite tricky.

If your IP address is stolen by a hacker or anyone who has nefarious plans, then the person can use your IP address to capture your private information. Below you can see what someone can do with your IP address:

• Identify your location.
• Can connect to your device/computer.
• Can impersonate you using your IP and other information.
• Launch DDoS attacks against you.
• Restrict your access to websites.
• Blacklist your IP address on various gaming sites.
• Sell your IP address on the Dark Web.
• Companies can have your IP address and sue you against copyright infringement.

Is My IP Address Fixed?

No. Your IP address is not fixed. The IP address that you use is provided by your ISP. As soon as you change your network provider and location, your IP address will be changed. You can also request the ISP for a static IP address that will remain fixed for you until you change your ISP.

How Can Someone Get My IP Address?

Hackers and intruders can easily get hold of your IP address. Below are the most common ways through which anyone can track your IP address:

• From the email you sent

The most visible way of getting someone’s IP address is through an email. When you send an email to anyone using Yahoo or Microsoft Outlook, your IP address is displayed in the header of your email. Both these email services add the IP address of the sender. Therefore, you need to consider the most secure email providers for your overall online security.

• When someone uses your device

If, by any chance, you hand over your device to a friend, colleague, or anyone, they can easily take out your IP address. Searching for an IP address while using a particular device is super easy. Anyone can conduct an online IP detection test to know your IP address in a matter of seconds.

• When you click on a link

Your IP address can be revealed when you click on a link. With each link, you provide your IP address to the end server of your desired platform.  In this way, anyone who runs the server can easily access your IP address.

• While clicking on an ad

There are online ads designed in a way that can reveal your IP address when you click on them. Many online ads are created by malicious actors for the purpose of stealing users’ information. Such malicious ads put your security at risk.

Besides these top 4 ways to steal your IP address, hackers can also use other methods. For example, hackers can guess the password of your router, and once they log in, they can easily track your IP address.

Moreover, when you visit a website, the webserver of the website can also easily see your IP address. Not only that, but forum admins can also easily track your location and IP address when you comment on their respective platforms.

Can Someone Remotely Control My PC With My IP Address?

No. A hacker cannot capture or control your device remotely by tracking your IP address. However, the IP address can be used to track your personal information like location. Moreover, hackers, ISP, and the government can also track what you see and download online using your IP address.

However, to control your device remotely, a hacker must throw malware into your device, which you can easily prevent by updating your device’s antivirus software.

How To Hide IP address

As of now, you know what someone can do with your IP address. It’s time to understand how to protect your IP address. Protecting your IP address is not as difficult as it may sound. You can always follow a few security measures to defend your online security.

• Use a VPN

When you connect to a VPN server, it routes your traffic using an encrypted tunnel so that no one can read your traffic. Besides that, a VPN also hides your real IP address and assigns you a new IP address that no one can easily track. iProVPN gives you a powerful layer of security. With military-grade encryption, iProVPN ensures protection for your traffic and IP address from leaks and online snooping.

Moreover, iProVPN enables you to protect up to 10 devices with a single subscription and provides a strong global coverage with fast VPN servers around the world.

• Frequently change your privacy settings

It’s essential to always update your privacy settings on various apps that you use. There are certain messaging apps like Skype that reveal your IP address. Hence, it is suggested to set your apps to private and don’t use unreliable apps and sources to communicate.

• Use mobile data

There are no IP addresses involved in mobile data. Hence, you can freely use your mobile data the way you want without fearing IP address leaks.

• Update your Firewalls

It is also important to regularly update your Firewall and passwords for every device. With an updated Firewall, no one can easily break into your device or IP address to steal your data.

• Use Anonymous web browsers

There are anonymous web browsers like Tor that allow you to browse anonymously. These browsers conceal your IP address and route your traffic using the Tor network. Your entire traffic is encrypted between the Tor network and the encrypted browser. Tor is much safer and one of the most secure web browsers to use.

Conclusion

What can someone do with your IP address? Now, this blog summarizes everything that you need to know about it. Anyone with your IP address can really give you a bad time by filling your inbox with spam or conducting illegal activities in your name. The best way to secure and hide your IP address is to use iProVPN to browse the web with utter security.