Last updated: October 6, 2022
Often times, IP addresses are at the heart of a lot of problems, but also of fantasies. Indeed, between what is true and what is not, it is sometimes complicated to find the truth in terms of information.
But then, concretely, What are you exposed to if someone ever gets your IP address? and above all, how to prevent this from happening? This is what we will see in more detail in this article.
The different methods to retrieve your IP address
As we have just said, before seeing what it is possible to do with an IP address, we will tell you the methods that can allow a third party to have access to this famous IP address.
We will also give you a lot of advice to protect yourself and therefore prevent this IP address from falling into the wrong hands and thus exposing yourself to the problems of the second part of this article.
Retrieve data via a Wifi network
The first thing that we will advise you is to pay close attention to the WiFi networks that you will be able to find everywhere in public places. At first glance, it's practical, everyone can connect to it.
But above all, it is a place of choice for any hacker who can quite easily break into it.
He will use a man in the middle attack (or MITM). To do this, it then places itself between you and this network and it will be able to retrieve a whole lot of information, including your IP address. To learn more about this attack, I invite you to read this article: How to spy on a PC on a Wifi network?
To combat this, there are two possibilities. The first is not to connect to these networks and the second is touse a VPN to hide your IP when you do so.
Have access to your computer
We keep repeating it, you should never ever leave your computer unattended if you ever have to be away. Remember to always lock it with a password, even in places you think are safe.
Because if you do not lock it, know that there are websites or with the simple command to enter allows a malicious person to know your Public IP address in just a few seconds.
Command to know its public IP address with the command prompt:
By scamming you by email or messaging
Finally, this last tip, you surely know it and it applies here too. You never ever click on a link that seems suspicious to you, even if sent by someone you trust.
Indeed, it is quite possible that this person, she has been hacked and these links, they can allow the person in front to know your IP address.
We have already seen in previous tutorials how we can retrieve an IP address with a single click on a faked link:
- Obtain a person's IP address when opening the email
- Find someone's IP address on Facebook, Instagram, or Discord
So always make sure you are talking to someone you trust who sends you a link on.
In summary to avoid the recovery of your IP address, you must:
- Use a VPN, especially on unprotected WiFi networks.
- Avoid unprotected WiFi networks.
- Never click on a shady link.
- Never open a suspicious email.
- Never leave unattended access to your computer.
What we can learn from your IP address
Okay, now that we've seen the different ways to retrieve your IP address et how to protect yourself, it's time to show you what can be done quite easily with your IP address.
Have your location
The first very easy thing to do with your IP address is tosimply have your location. Indeed, there are a whole bunch of sites which offer you to find a postal address simply by entering an IP address.
So, it is a rather imprecise address, but by cross-checking the information of different of these sites, the hacker could succeed in locating without too much problem a rather small geographical area where you are. So, if it has other information, it is quite easy to find your exact address.
Launch a DDoS attack
The second thing you might experience is something called a DDoS attack. So without necessarily going into detail, this is an attack where you are going to be bombarded with repeated ICMP, SYN, HTTP requests, etc., at extremely high rates.
Faced with these thousands of requests, your router will no longer be able to provide, which will literally prevent you from using it as long as the attack lasts. If you need to connect to the internet for work, for example, it could become a nightmare.
Hack your computer and all your accounts on social networks
A skillful hacker can scan and look for open ports associated with your IP address with theNmap tool . By using the open port scan, the attacker can find out which port services are allowed to pass through the router.
If, for example, the SSH port is open, the hacker can use the banner grabbing, to get versions of your software installed with known exploits.
In this way, the control of your computer could be taken remotely with theMetasploit tool. And who says computer hacking, says hacking of all the accounts used by this computer.
To protect yourself from this type of attack, I advise you to install a VPN and keep your operating system and software up to date.
You should understand that older Windows versions have security holes and they are fixed in the latest version. The same goes for your favorite software.
Accuse you of crimes
Finally, the last thing you can do is simply impersonate you knowing your IP address. It's more complicated to do than the other two things we were telling you about, but it is possible.
A skilled hacker can use your IP address to impersonate you online, routing their activity through your IP address instead of theirs.
Ultimately, they could accuse you of buying drugs, downloading child pornography, or even creating national security threats.
Therefore, you understand that it is important to protect yourself well with a VPN, that if you are facing a real hacker, just with your IP address, he can:
- Locate you
- Subjecting you to a DDoS attack
- Track you on the net
- Impersonate you by stealing your IP address