IP Address Security – Preventing A Hacked IP Address

I think it is safe to say the vast majority of us have had to deal with network security in some way or another. It might have been as simple as someone giving you adware. It might have been worse than that. Maybe someone used your information to find you.

Personally, I experienced a ransomware attack, a stolen account, adware, malware, keyloggers, and probably much more. I did not practice the best security practices in my teens. Each time, I would have to spend a good chunk of time using someone else’s computer to research how to stop the issue. To put it lightly, it was always a huge pain.

A security issue can affect more than just your network. A common tactic is for hackers to take IP addresses. They can use them to either learn more information about you or pretend to be you. While the identity of an IP address is not the same as a driver’s license, it can still have legal implications if abused. It is a good idea to try your best to keep your IP address secure.

To learn more about IP address security, use the table of contents below.

Table of Contents

What Is IP Address Security?

IP address security mostly refers to the use of safe practices in regards to your online presence. This includes things like making sure you are using safe and unique passwords for every online account. If you use similar passwords, then anyone behind the scenes at one website will now have your password that can get into multiple different accounts.

You cannot fully control who has information about your online accounts. However, making sure to only use every password once means that it cannot be used against you elsewhere. It is useless to the person behind the scenes. IP address security also means being mindful of what sites and web services you frequent. This includes apps on your phone. Unsecured sites can put you at risk. Avoid digging too deep into search results, as search engines put the most legitimate websites in the early pages. And this avoidance is not subject just to sites. Keep this in mind when checking your email inbox.

Anything suspicious should be either deleted or flagged right away. The method that provides the most peace of mind, however, is to use a proxy. A proxy is an intermediary that you pass all of your internet activity through. When you click on something, your proxy is what actually does the action. Then, it shows you what the result is. From your point of view, it looks exactly like you are browsing as normal. However, behind the scenes, everything to and from your computer passes through the proxy. So the proxy that is interacting with everything online is not even yours. It belongs to the proxy.

Can my IP Address be Hacked and Used?

IP address hacking is an unfortunately common practice. Legitimate IP addresses from random people work as great fronts to commit cybercrime. Everything a criminal does with your hacked IP address will appear to come directly from you. If anyone catches this activity and traces it back, they will likely have a few questions about your internet activities.

Every website you access sees that you accessed it. They identify you based on that IP address. Think about the number of websites you visit every day. Now think of the number of people working to keep those websites running. By the end, it is easy to figure that potentially thousands of people have access to your IP address daily. And I would call that a conservative figure.

Getting your IP address is the first part. After that, they can search for your IP address. There are many services online that allow users to get more information on an IP address, especially the location. Sometimes, even that information gives someone enough to go on. Others, the information they learn from here helps them to gain access to your IP.

The problem with free proxies

Everybody knows that free proxies are definitely not the best choice. No matter what the product is, anything free cannot be worth more than something you’re paying for. Unfortunately for proxies, the issues go much deeper than just quality.

Do not get me wrong, free proxies lack quality too. The providers do everything they can to cut costs. They will put as many users as they can on the same proxy. Why would they care if you experience slow performance? You are not the one paying them.

The traffic on the proxy is the first concern. There are many people using the proxy alongside you. You have no way to know or control what the other users are doing. They could be accessing content that allows a hacker to gain access to the proxy, putting everyone at risk. Even worse, the proxy is free, the hacker can just get on it themselves.

Another security issue is that the proxy itself could be a front. It is more likely that potential hacking will come from bad actors abusing the free proxy. However, there is still a chance that someone is having others use a free proxy primarily for hacking purposes. This could be as simple as putting malware on your device. This can also lead to ransomware where someone has locked your device unless you pay a ransom. Regardless, it is bad news.

There is really nothing that you can do to make free proxies safer. You are choosing to connect and are allowing the proxy to interact with your network and device. That is a connection that you should only reserve for trusted software and services. Any time you need a proxy for any reason, you always need to buy it. Free proxies are never a good idea.

How Do I Know if My IP Address Has Been Hacked?

It can be easy to overlook that your IP address has been hacked. There will be no blinking banner on your computer telling you so. Often, there may be no sign that you have been hacked. An IP address can provide more than just a front for illegal activity. If it is being used to track your location or gather information, you might never know that it has happened.

Even if your IP address is being used to download anything illegally, you might not be able to notice. You likely will not experience any interruptions in service, because anything intensive would be done when you are not around. You might be able to pick up that something is wrong if you pick out strange ads targeting you. If they have nothing to do with anything you have done online recently, then you might have someone else using your IP to access data on sites that you never went to.

You may be able to investigate further by contacting your Internet Service Provider. They are the ones who assign your IP address. If you work with them, they may be able to help determine if there has been any strange activity with your IP address lately.

How to Find Dedicated IP Address Security

There are a couple of ways to gain a sense of IP security. First, practice safe surfing. Have long, unique, alphanumeric passwords for every online account. Avoid unsecured websites as well as old and outdated websites. Keep an eye out for phishing attempts. And never give away any account information to anyone else.

However, there is something else that you should consider adding to the above. Safe practices are a must, but you can give yourself another huge layer of security with proxies. Especially in regard to protecting your IP address, proxies act as a wall that helps stop anything trying to break through. If you have not told your proxy to access something, then it will not. And anyone trying to track you through your proxy has nothing of interest. At best, they have an IP address of a proxy. The identifying and locational data regarding it is useless. And even then, all you would have to do is replace it with another proxy.

That is why Rayobyte offers a free monthly replacement for each proxy. If you ever notice your proxy might be compromised, simply get it replaced through our intuitive user dashboard. It is important for us to provide you with great security, so we offer the authentication that works best for you. You can choose from IP authorization or username/password.

We know that a safe proxy cannot be limiting. You need to be able to perform just as well as before you used a proxy. That is why we offer proxies that use 1 Gbps network lines and come with unlimited bandwidth and threads. And with our superior subnet diversity, you can rest assured knowing that you will not end up locked out of anything due to a mass ban.

Rayobyte also has a wide range of features including locations in 27 Countries. And our support team is available day and night. We are there when you need us. All of these features and more are available for every proxy. And to top it all off, we offer our proxies at competitive prices. So do not delay. Take our risk-free, money-back guarantee trial and learn for yourself what proxies from Rayobyte can do.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, we know now that IP address security is an important matter. We focus a lot more on protecting our networks that we neglect other aspects of our online presence. Whether someone is trying to track down our location or use our IP addresses for illegal activity, there is nothing negligible about IP theft.

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