What Can Someone Do with Your IP Address?

If you’re unaware of the phrase “IP address,” you’re probably living under a rock. An IP address is your digital passport to the internet. Although it provides you an individual identity on the web, an IP address could give away your physical location/online activities/private data, and more.

If someone gets your IP address, they can track you, launch DDoS attacks, or frame you for illegal activities. Your IP reveals your location and could lead to identity theft. Using a VPN can mask your IP and enhance security.

What is an IP Address? 

An Internet Protocol address is a unique ID provided to each gadget on the Internet for identifying and communicating with other devices. 

Moreover, you can find other devices on the Internet with an IP address. Whenever you connect to a network, you can transmit data through your IP address. 

IP addresses are written in 4 sections or octets, separated with dots. For instance, a normal IP address may appear as 192.168.1.1. Each number can range from 0 to 255, meaning there are over four billion possible IP addresses.

How Could You Lose Your IP to an Outsider?

Most internet users have a dynamic IP address. Unless you have a dedicated IP, your IP address will change every few days or each time you manually reset the modem provided by your ISP.

While there are several ways someone can find your IP address, these are the most common:

• By Borrowing your Device

If someone borrows your device or uses it for a short time, they can quickly learn your IP address in seconds.

• Connecting to your WiFi Network

If someone connects to your unsecured home network either directly or by you disclosing your network’s password to them, they can quickly figure out your IP address. 

• Through your Email

Although most email providers no longer reveal your IP address, your office’s email system might be antiquated and thus could reveal it. It doesn’t take a tech-savvy person to locate the IP address from an email, as it’s displayed within mail headers in many situations.

• Torrenting

Torrent sites are swamped with malicious actors. As you download torrents, your IP address is visible to each member of the particular swarm. They only need to view the peers list to find your IP address.

• Port Forwarding

By opening ports for an online game or any other service, you risk leaking your IP address and location to eavesdroppers who connect through these open ports. However, you can securely port forward without leaving a trace.

• Clicking a Link

By clicking an external web link, you provide your IP address to another party via their web analytics. The individual who runs the server at the other end can see your IP address. Clickbait content is designed to figure out your IP address and target you with ads.

• Through Forums

Although forum contributors will know you by your profile name, the administrator can identify your device by your IP address. If you do not adhere to the forum rules, the administrator can potentially use your IP address to ban you.

• Site Administrators

Any website administrator (think Google, Facebook, Yahoo, TikTok, whatever you connect to) knows who is visiting the site and from where. They know this through your IP address and the geolocation associated with that IP address.

• Through Messaging Apps

Although your chats on messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram are encrypted, clicking a link will reveal your IP address to the sender’s site administrator.

• Law Enforcement Agencies

Government bodies, such as law enforcement agencies, can quickly access your IP address and geolocation in the United States thanks to Rule 41, a law passed in late 2016. Similar rules exist in other countries worldwide. 

What Can Someone Do With Your IP?

The severity of someone knowing your IP address depends on what’s associated with it. This certainly doesn’t mean that if your device doesn’t host ‘valuable data,’ it won’t be of any worth to a snooper.

The biggest misconception is that people think ‘my data isn’t worth it’ or ‘I don’t care.’ The repercussions of having your IP exposed can be detrimental. Here’s what someone can do with your IP address:

Your IP can be used to Track your Location

Your IP address reveals your physical location. Each IP address is unique and distinguishes you from the rest, making it easier to locate you. If you’ve publicly announced to be in a particular city, an evil-intended individual only needs to do some extra digging to find your location and confront you.

Simultaneously, government agencies and hackers can use your IP address to locate and arrest you if necessary. Your IP address is vulnerable online unless you mask your real IP address with a dummy IP address.

Your IP can be used to Hack your Device.

IP addresses are linked to ports that navigate through the internet gateways and virtually connect internet-enabled devices. Connecting to the internet brings challenges, and a hacker who has gained knowledge of your IP can hack those ports via a brute-force attack.

The hacker could then take over your devices connected to the network and potentially install malware.

Your IP can be used to Imitate You

Once your IP address is exposed, cybercriminals can easily dig deeper to discover your name and social media handles. With such intricate details, criminals can impersonate you to access your details, mostly financial information.

Such attacks are common and are known as vishing attacks. The impersonator could be your bank pretending to be you and making financial transactions. By the time you discover this, it might be too late.

Your IP can Limit your Access to Online Services

Restricting site access is standard among online streaming services. When you access sites like Netflix or Amazon Prime outside the countries they offer their services; you will no longer stream online content.

Such sites identify you via your IP address and restrict your access to their online services even if you’re their paid user.

Your IP can Bombard you with Advertisements.

It’s common to make a search query regarding products and services to know more about them. However, what comes as a result of this harmless search query can be genuinely daunting and irritating.

Yes, ads. Online trackers and marketing agencies map your search query to your IP address. Hence, their intuitive crawlers will track you on the web for as long as you don’t change your IP address. This is an invasion of a user’s online privacy.

Your IP can be Sold to the Highest Bidder

Cybercriminals are always on a hacking spree. Even the pandemic hasn’t stopped hackers from exploiting potential loopholes to earn a profit during hard times. Hacking attempts and data breaches are at an all-time high, and sadly, your IP address may be part of a massive breach.

Your IP address alone isn’t worth much. The data associated with the IP address makes it useful to the bidder. The buyer can use that sensitive data to target or impersonate you, scamming you.

Your IP can Reveal your Info

Although dynamic IP addresses frequently change, for the time they’re associated with you, the IP address can expose a great deal of information regarding you, such as your physical location and your web browsing activities.

Your IP makes you Vulnerable to DoS/DDoS Attacks

A DDoS attack uses multiple IP addresses to target a specific IP address. If your IP address is exposed and known to a hacker, they can quickly flood your network with excessive traffic, slowing or shutting it down.

A website experiencing a DDoS attack, performance issues, or server crashes will maximize CPU capacity and memory resources, overwhelming its machines and network.

Your IP opens you up to Liabilities, including Copyright Lawsuits

Torrenting sites are discouraged because they violate copyright laws. If you’re caught downloading torrents from torrenting sites, you could receive a cease and may even be sued, requiring you to pay a hefty fine.

There have been several cases in the US where individuals downloading torrents received a court order. By visiting the torrent site, the website is aware of your IP address. They may contact your ISP to find out who you are and potentially land you in trouble.

How to Stop Someone from Using Your IP Address

With your digital passport in someone else’s hand, things can go south in seconds. At this point, you must hide your IP address from intruders.

Here’s how you can stop someone from uncovering your IP address:

• Privacy Tweaks of Messaging Apps

Messaging apps are the backbone of our daily communications. Hidden deep down in the settings are privacy options that are often ignored and set as default (meaning the privacy settings are switched off).

By implementing strong privacy settings, you minimize and eliminate the risk of someone prying into your private conversations.

• Frequently Update Firewall and Router Password

Firewalls are the first line of defense against intruders and unwanted internet traffic. It’s essential to keep your firewall updated as updates carry the latest bug fixes that patch up potential vulnerabilities.

Simultaneously, your router’s WiFi password must be frequently updated with a strong and complex combination of alphanumeric characters. A secure IT infrastructure means a much more secure internet connection.

• Switch between Internet Networks

By switching from one network to another, you’re essentially changing your IP address. As you change your IP address, you’re masking your previous digital identity with a new one.

You could switch between a home WiFi network and your mobile data network.

• Opt for a Dynamic IP from your ISP

Typically, your ISP will assign you a dynamic IP address that will change every few days or each time you restart the router. Since a new IP address will get assigned to you, your previous IP address containing your online footprints will no longer be associated with you. Hence, you’ll begin with a fresh digital identity.

• Use Tor

Tor (The Onion Router) is browser software that allows users to communicate anonymously online. Its relays or nodes ensure that your internet connection is secured against prying eyes.

• Use a VPN

VPNs are largely regarded as the most reliable and safe way to browse anonymously online. This is primarily because VPNs work by assigning you a temporary virtual IP address.

Essentially, a VPN masks your real IP address and assigns you a different IP address of a location that’s dissimilar to yours, securing your online activities against prying eyes.

To stop someone from prying on your IP address, you must know How to Hide an IP Address.

All in all, your IP address can reveal an awful lot of information about you to strangers who may use that data to harm you. It’s essential that you mask your IP address and keep your digital identity confidential.

How Can I Check My IP Address? 

You can quickly know your IP address on your phone or computer device by using the following steps:

1. Go to the start menu for computer devices and search for Command Prompt.
2. Next, you can type ‘ipconfig‘ and enter it.
3. You will see your IP next to the IPv4 label.
4. If your PC is not connected to your network, but your phone is, then you can go to the Network Setting of your phone.
5. Navigate to the Internet or WiFi on it and click on your connected network.
6. Scroll down to see all other network information with your IP address.

If you find these steps confusing and want a one-click solution, then simply check your IP address on Whatismyip, and it will be labeled next for the IPv4 address.

Can a Person Hack and Use My IP Address to Control My Computer? 

Hackers don’t use your IP address to access your computer. An IP address only helps provide your and other device’s geographical location for communication. 

However, suppose an attacker has accessed your device through phishing, viruses, and more. In that case, they can use your IP address or device identity to do illegal work, like drug business selling data on your name, which can be more dangerous. 

But you can easily avoid these conditions by strengthening your system’s security army like antivirus, firewall, or other.

What Can I Do If Someone Has My IP Address? 

You should always keep your IP address concealed, but if someone already has your IP, you can simply change it. If you use a home network, restart your router after five minutes of unplugging it. You can also change it through your devices.

For the phone, try to forget your connected network and rejoin it by entering a password, and you’ll have a new IP assigned. You can also ensure that your ISP uses dynamic IP address protocol (DHCP) rather than static so you can easily change it.

Can I Change My IP Address?

You can change your IP address by restarting your router or reconnecting your network. 

However, we have a better solution: VPN or Virtual Private Network. It can help change your IP address by connecting to another server in a different location. 

A VPN provides another route for transmitting data packets and keeps your device’s identity hidden. 

For example, if you connect to a Japanese server, a VPN will make it appear that your device is working from Japan and your IP address also belongs to the Japan server. 

To get a VPN, you can use the following steps.

1. Download a trustworthy and secure VPN like PureVPN.
2. Connect to a Server.
3. Done! You are now working from another country with your actual IP address concealed.