The utilization of your IP address for internet communication is an indispensable process. Nonetheless, in the hands of malicious individuals, it can be used to gain access to private information related to your online identity and physical location. Such malevolent use of data can lead to harmful cyber-attacks on your system and even pave the way for fraudulent activities like identity theft.
In order to understand how your IP address can be exploited, let us first determine what your personal IP address is by using the “What is my IP?” tool.
After reading this post, you will be equipped with knowledge on how to safeguard against potential threats and explore methods for concealing your IP address. It’s pretty nifty.
How can someone find your IP address?
Your Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique sequence of numbers assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) that serves as an online delivery address.
Your IP address will change if you move house or connect to a different Wi-Fi network, due to the dynamic nature of most ISPs’ IP addresses.
However, you can choose to have a static IP address, which remains fixed to your device, and this can be useful for tasks such as port-forwarding.
Unfortunately, since your IP address reveals certain information about you, it can also be used maliciously. Obtaining someone’s IP address is relatively easy, and therefore, it’s important to be aware of the potential risks and to take measures to protect yourself.
Your IP address is a crucial piece of information that can be obtained by various means. In the following, we describe some common methods that can be used to obtain your IP address:
- Borrowing your device: If someone borrows or uses your device, they can easily find out your IP address through various websites that provide this information.
- From an email: The header of an email you send may contain your IP address, which can be accessed by the recipient. This is known to occur in email services such as Yahoo! and Microsoft Outlook.
- Clicking on a link: Whenever you click on a link, your IP address is sent to the server on the other end to deliver the content. The owner of the server can then see your IP address.
- Hacking your router: If someone has access to your router’s password, they can log in and view your IP address.
- From a web server: Every time you visit a website, your IP address is collected and stored on the server. The server owner can look up your IP address.
- Clicking on an ad: Clicking on an online ad can reveal your IP address to the ad service provider, which could pose a security risk if the ad is malicious.
- Participating in online forums: Forum administrators can view your public IP address when you participate in discussions.
- Connecting to a fake hotspot: Hackers can create fake hotspots to obtain your IP address and personal information or infect your device with malware.
- On social networks: Social media platforms collect various sensitive information about your life, friends, habits, interests, and your IP address.
See More:How to ping an ip address.