What Can Someone Do With Your IP Address? Top 10 Risks

Your IP address is more than just a series of numbers. It’s a digital identifier that helps websites, apps, and services recognize your device, but it’s also publicly visible and can be traced back to you. This might not seem like a big deal at first. However, if the wrong person gets a hold of your IP address, they can use it to personalize ads, launch DDoS attacks, restrict access, and more.

In this guide, we’ll explore 10 things someone can do with your IP address and practical ways to protect yourself. By understanding these risks, you’ll be better equipped to keep your personal information safe and secure.

What Is An IP Address & How Can It Be Exposed?

An IP address is similar to a physical address, but instead of identifying where your home is, for example, it identifies your home’s network and its approximate physical location on an ISP’s network. Network servers use your IP address to route your data to its rightful destination and back. A network won’t be able to direct your traffic without it.

This means your IP address will always reflect the closest ISP server to your location and that may not always be the city you’re in. As an example, if you live in a smaller town, it’s unlikely your IP address will reflect your exact location and instead reflect the location of a server in the next largest city. 

That said, not all IP addresses are assigned in the same way. A mobile IP address is dynamic, which means it changes frequently depending on your location. Since mobile providers use cell towers, your phone’s IP address will change as you move away from some towers and closer to others. When you connect from work or home, your IP address is more fixed. That doesn’t mean the IP address at your workplace or home can’t change, but it won’t change as frequently as a mobile IP address. 

If you don’t know your IP address, it isn’t hard to find – just search for “what is my IP address” and it’ll pop right up. 

How Can Someone Find Your IP Address?

Unfortunately, if you don’t secure your IP address it’s easy for cybercriminals to find too. Here are the main ways someone can find your IP address:

1. Apps and websites – Anytime you visit a website or online service it detects and potentially logs your IP address on its server database.
2. Online ads – Ads and trackers typically log and store your IP address, browsing activity, and other online information.
3. Emails – Some email providers, like Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, and Yahoo! display your IP address in email headers.
4. Public forums – The admins of public forms can see your IP address, even on Reddit.
5. Peer-to-peer sharing – Torrenting and file-sharing sites like BitTorrent display your IP address when you upload or download files.
6. Online gaming – Multiplayer games that use peer-to-peer networks may reveal your IP address in the game options or settings. Some games also reveal your IP address in voice chat. Tech-savvy Xbox Live and PSN members may also be able to find your IP address.
7. IoT device traffic – IoT devices use a default set of network ports to send and receive data online. When an IoT device sends data across the web, it reveals your IP address to anyone monitoring those ports.

What Can Someone Do If They Have Your IP Address?

Once a cybercriminal has your true IP address, you risk unknowingly participating in malicious or illegal activity, could be subjected to network breaches, and more. Here are the top 10 things someone can do if they have your IP address:

1. Find Your General Location

While your IP address won’t reveal your exact address, it can show the city, state, or ZIP code you’re in. A cybercriminal could use this to pinpoint your approximate location. If they combine it with information from your social media profiles, they may even get close to identifying your home or workplace.

2. Access Your Router

Hackers may try to connect to your router using default passwords, especially if your connection isn’t secure. With access, they can change your network settings or spy on your data. This is more likely if they discover you’re using unencrypted connections, like HTTP sites, or an open port.

3. Serve You Personalized Ads and Spam

Marketers and trackers can log your IP address and use it to create personalized ads based on your browsing habits. You may start seeing a flood of ads and spam emails related to sites you’ve visited, even if you didn’t share your email address with them.

4. Block Access to Services or Games

Some online platforms restrict access based on IP addresses, locking out users in certain locations or who have violated terms. If someone uses your IP address in a way that breaks site rules, it could end up blocked, leaving you unable to access the services you use.

5. Launch a DDoS Attack

Attackers can use your IP address to launch a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on your network. By bombarding your IP with fake requests, they can slow down or completely disrupt your internet connection, making it impossible for you to go online.

6. Sell Your IP on the Dark Web

IP addresses are sometimes bundled with other data and sold on the dark web to advertisers, data brokers, or cybercriminals. This can lead to more targeted spam, unwanted tracking, or worse, if additional information about you is available.

7. Attempt to Steal Personal Data

By using your IP address, a cybercriminal can figure out your ISP and send phishing attempts that appear legitimate. They may use this to request sensitive information or access your online accounts, depending on the data they gather about you.

8. Monitor Your Activity

ISPs or even employers can track your online activity through your IP address, monitoring your browsing history, app usage, and more. This could limit your freedom online, especially if you use a shared network.

9. Frame You for Illegal Activities

Hackers may use stolen IP addresses to carry out illegal activities online. This could lead to accusations of illegal downloads or even fraud tied to your IP. If authorities trace the IP back to you, it could mean dealing with a difficult legal situation.

10. Gain Access to Your Devices

With your IP, hackers can scan for open ports to try and access your network. If they get in, they could steal data, monitor your activity, or even install malware on your device, turning it into a part of their network without your knowledge.

What to Do If Someone Has Your IP Address

Since people can easily identify your public IP address in cases like those mentioned above, you won’t know if someone uses your IP address for malicious purposes. Signs of someone manipulating your IP address may include unexpected traffic on your network, slower speeds, warnings from your ISP about things you didn’t do, or difficulty accessing sites and services (because of IP blocklisting). 

If any of these signs sound familiar, your IP address could be compromised and it’s time to change and secure it. Luckily, we know a few ways to protect yourself.

Reset Your Router

If you don’t have a static IP address, you can change your IP address by turning off your router for a minute and then turning it on again. Your ISP should assign a new IP address to your network. Your new IP address will still be visible if you don’t make an effort to hide it, though. Depending on the circumstances, if a malicious person managed to find your previous IP address they can easily find the new one using the same method.

It’s best to install a VPN or another form of protection to hide your IP address before resetting the router. That way, no one can see your new IP address and use it to track your activity or location.

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Contact Your ISP

Your ISP may be able to help you figure out what a person did while using your IP address. ISPs keep logs and you can request to see what sites and services they associated with your IP address to get a better idea of where the problem originated. 

You can also ask them to provide you with a new IP address or use a VPN to mask your IP address with a different one, which typically eliminates the issue. It’s important to use cybersecurity software like VPNs and take measures to prevent similar things from happening in the future. Still, it won’t solve the problem of any personal data leaks that happened before changing your IP address.

If your ISP contacts you to warn you about suspicious or illegal activity associated with your account, call the main office or contact customer service via their website. Never follow a link from an email or pop-up notification as cybercriminals use authentic-looking communication to steal data – and if they have your IP address they know what ISP you use. If your device or local network has been compromised, change your login credentials on routers and all other IoT devices to prevent further data theft and restart these devices.

Utilize Customer Support

Changing your IP address may not help if a website or service has associated it with your account while someone was using your stolen IP address. In this instance, the quickest way to resolve the situation is to let them know of the issue and that you’ve changed your IP address. You may have to do some identity proofing like confirming your account number or the information you used to create the account (e.g. address, phone number, full name, etc.), but it’s better than permanently losing access to the account or website.

Review the Information Linked to Your Identity Online

In cases like Swatting attacks, the perpetrators weren’t able to target their victims based on just having their IP address alone. They were able to use the location information linked to that IP address along with other information available online to guess the person’s identity or exact location. 

If you have profiles on social networks, make sure to review your privacy settings and what you post online. Also, review linked accounts and public messages on forums. Someone with the right tools and motivation may be able to build an accurate picture of your habits and movements based on all this information combined with your IP address.

How to Stop Someone From Finding Your IP Address

Connect to A Proxy

One of the easiest ways to stop someone from getting your IP address is to mask it using a proxy server. Using a proxy can be a risk because they generally don’t encrypt your traffic and many don’t employ proper methods to successfully hide your real IP address. 

Proxies may also log sensitive information like the usernames and passwords you use or what you do online, so your data is essentially sitting and waiting for a cybercriminal to find it. In addition, some proxies aren’t compatible with certain ISP networks, which may cause connection stability problems.

Use Tor

Tor hides your IP address by sending your traffic through multiple servers/routers (known as nodes) owned by volunteers. Unfortunately, your real IP address is still visible to the first node and your traffic isn’t encrypted at exit nodes so cybercriminals are known to squat there to steal your data. 

Tor’s routing process also makes your connection much slower than usual. That means you’ll likely experience severe lag and disconnects during streaming and gaming.

Install a VPN

A VPN prevents DDoS and other man-in-the-middle attacks that attempt to hijack your traffic in transit. It does this by changing your IP address and masking your traffic, so a DDoS attack is fruitless – even if they discover your new IP address. After all, with a VPN, your new IP address isn’t linked to your home network but the VPN’s server instead. The effort of tracking any information back to you is pointless because your traffic is hidden behind strong encryption and an anonymous IP address. 

Not all VPNs are dedicated to your privacy though. It’s important to use a secure VPN to hide your IP address without compromising your private information. CyberGhost VPN’s strict no logs policy has been independently audited and we never save your data – not even which server you used. That means we don’t know your IP address and won’t track your online activity. We also use RAM-only servers on our entire network, so any temporary session information is wiped regularly.

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How to Keep Your Real IP Address Private

If you’re concerned about what happens if someone gets your IP address, changing it won’t be enough to keep you safe. You’ll also have to change your online habits to make sure your IP address stays more private in the future. 

Be mindful of the location information you share on your social media accounts, and ensure your network settings are always configured for maximum privacy. Whenever possible, utilize privacy tools on your devices, including firewalls, anti-tracking, and anti-malware features.

If you keep the previous tips in mind and download a trustworthy VPN, there’s less chance that anyone will get hold of your IP address in the future.

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